Disappearance @ Hanging Rock
DISAPPEARANCE @ HANGING ROCK
(Film Script)
A slip in time, wherein those who enter the faerie realm do not return ...
Michael Organ
Spec Script
[Version: 23 August 2023]
Synopsis: Three schoolgirls and a teacher disappear during a picnic at Hanging Rock, Victoria, on St Valentine's Day, 14th February, 1900. They are taken into the faerie realm. One returns; three do not.
This screenplay is based on the published versions of Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1967 & 1987). It primarily makes use of the original text, and expands upon that where appropriate, or necessary. The chronology adheres to Lindsay's. The screenplay deals only with the disappearances and events leading up to it. The devastating consequences are not addressed, as they are adequately covered in the published texts and, to a lesser, though also useful degree, in the 1975 Peter Weir film and/or the 2018 TV series. The screenplay uniquely presents the controversial disappearance episode in the context of an encounter with the faerie realm. It provides a succinct, fantastical, and in part truthful (according to Lindsay) explanation for the events described. References are made within the screenplay to MOVIE inserts - at these points the reader can refer to the actions as seen in the filmed versions. Abbreviations used throughout include: EXT. (Exterior) / INT. (Interior) O.C. (Off camera). For additional information see the links above.
List of Characters
Avron, Edith, Greta McCraw, Irma, Mademoiselle de Poitiers, Marion, Miranda, Mr Hussey, Mrs Appleyard, The McCraw / The Stranger.
Acts
- Appleyard College
- Journey to Hanging Rock
- At the Rock
- Into the Faerie Realm
- Disappearance
- Finding Irma
- Path of Light
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DISAPPEARANCE @ HANGING ROCK
(The path of light)
Act 1 - Appleyard College
EXT. - DISTANT VIEW OF APPLEYARD COLLEGE, FRIDAY 13TH FEBRUARY 1900 – LATE EVENING
A full moon sits over Mount Macedon, throwing its light through the second storey bedroom window of Appleyard College, a grand 1880s sandstone mansion located in the bush seventy kilometres north east of Melbourne.
INT. – BEDROOM OF MISS GRETA MCCRAW
Forty-five year old mathematics teacher Greta McCraw lies in her bed, reading a book on calculus. A candle flickers on the bedside table.
Curtains sway as a warm breeze enters through the open window.
INT. - BEDROOM - BED
Greta hears a faint noise at the end of her bed. She looks up towards the window, into the dark moonlight.
GRETA Who's there? Is anybody there?
INT. - BEDROOM - WINDOW
Nothing is seen in the blackness. The curtains are still. The room silent.
INT. - BEDROOM - BED
Greta quickly looks away towards the door, then back at the window.
A figure is now present in shadow, where none was before. It is a young man, aged in his late twenties. His face is radiant, his features exquisite. He is six feet tall, with dark black hair, green eyes, a slim figure, and wearing a coat of the deepest mauve. His name is Avron.
Greta is startled, but smiles. She immediately relaxes at the sight of the beautiful, though strange creature now in her room.
Avron approaches the end of the bed and speaks to her in a soft, enchanting voice.
AVRON Do not fear. My name is Avron. What do they call you?
GRETA Greta.
AVRON Greta, will you come with me?
GRETA Where to?
AVRON A place to read .... to rest. Specially for you. A place you have long dreamt of.
Greta gets out of bed and walks towards Avron. She is dressed in a nightgown. Her movement is slow, silent, her feet do not seem to touch the ground. She is enchanted, as in a dream. Avron points her towards the now open door. Beyond is a bright light.
AVRON Follow me.
Before she enters, she turns her head, looks once more at him, and then at her room.
In her bed a woman lies asleep. She looks very much like Greta. She is a faerie changeling. The McCraw doppelganger.
Greta turns back towards the door and follows Avron as they go through. It closes. The room is now silent, apart from the heavy breathing of the woman. The bedside candle is extinguished by a slight breeze. Darkness returns.
FADE TO BLACK
FADE IN
INT. - APPLEYARD COLLEGE - A LONG CORRIDOR - MIDNIGHT
Greta and Avron walk down a long corridor with a light at the far end, visible through an open door.
EXT. - FOREST - 14TH FEBRUARY - EARLY MORNING
They pass through the door and the light dissolves into a forested area, bathed in the light of dawn.
They walk along a dirt path for an hour or so.
GRETA Is it far?
AVRON No. It's just beyond that circle of trees. We can rest there.
[The circle of trees is a faerie circle, a portal into the faerie realm.]
The pair walk further into the forest and disappear ....
FADE TO BLACK
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Act 2 - Journey to Hanging Rock
FADE IN
EXT. - APPLEYARD COLLEGE, FRONT COURTYARD, SATURDAY 14TH FEBRUARY - EARLY MORNING
Appleyard College headmistress Mrs Appleyard is speaking to the schoolgirls and teachers as they prepare to leave for a picnic at Hanging Rock.
The McCraw stands by the side of the group, covered head to toe in high boots, long dress, jacket and hat. The weather is warm and sunny. She carries a bag and umbrella.
EXT. ROAD TO HANGING ROCK - MORNING
[MOVIE The group of students and teachers (Mademoiselle de Poitiers and Miss McCraw) depart the college and travel in a coach along the road to where Hanging Rock first comes into view.]
INT. - MR HUSSEY'S COACH, ROAD TO HANGING ROCK - MIDDAY
Inside the coach, Mademoiselle de Poitiers is seated next to the McCraw. Inside the carriage it is very bumpy and dusty. The McCraw coughs and brushes the dust away from its face.
MCCRAW And this we do for pleasure! So that we may shortly be at the mercy of venomous snakes and poisonous ants. How foolish can human creatures be!
Mr. Hussey shouts from the front seat.
HUSSEY It must be getting near midday.
DE POITIERS Don't worry Mr. Hussey, we have plenty of time. No rush.....
MCCRAW Humans are obsessed with the notion of perfectly useless movement. Nobody but an idiot ever seems to want to sit still for a change! There is no reason why we should be late, even if we stay an extra hour at the Rock. Mr Hussey knows as well as I do that two sides of a triangle are together greater than the third. This morning we have driven along two sides of a triangle .... am I correct?
Mr Hussey shakes his head in confusion, as if to show agreement.
MCCRAW Very well then - you have only to change your route this afternoon by the third side. In this case, since we entered this road at Woodend at right angles the return journey will be along the hypotenuse.
HUSSEY I don't know about a hippopotamus, ma'am, but if you're thinking of the Camel's Hump, it' a bloomin' sight longer road than the one we came by, arithmetic or not. You might be interested to know there isn't even a made road - only a sort of rough track over the back of the Mount.
MCCRAW I was not referring to the Camel's Hump, Mr Hussey. Thank you for your explanation all the same. Knowing little of horses and roads I tend to become theoretical. Marion, can you hear me up there in front? You understand what I mean, I hope?
MARION Yes miss.
EXT. ROAD TO HANGING ROCK
The coach approaches Hanging Rock.
HUSSEY There she is ladies ... only about a mile and a half to go! Over 500 feet in height ... volcanic ... several monoliths ... thousands of years old. Pardon me, Miss McCraw, I should say millions.
The McCraw smiles at Mr Hussey with a strange, crooked smile.
De Poitiers looks on with some confusion at out-of-character behaviour of her fellow teacher.
MCCRAW The mountain comes to Mahommed. The Hanging Rock comes to Mr. Hussey.
De Poitiers winks at Hussey in recognition of the strangeness of the McCraw's speech.
Marion turns to Miranda and whispers in her ear.
MARION Miss McCraw is very eccentric today, don't you think?
Miranda shakes her head in agreement.
MIRANDA It's not like her at all .... she is usually so quiet. I hope she is not unwell.
EXT. ROAD TO HANGING ROCK
A gate is seen in the distance. A strong breeze blows the canvas on the sides of the carriage.
The coach suddenly slows down and jolts about, shaking those inside. The road is smooth, the shaking unaccountable.
[This shaking indicates that the group has now entered part of the Hanging Rock site where the influence of the faerie realm is at play. This will manifest in a variety of forms.]
The McCraw makes a strange noise.
MCCRAW [Croak]
[The changeling degenerative process is in play, and it looks, acts and sounds less and less like the original Greta McCraw as time passes. The change in outward appearance is not noticed by those in the coach, though a change in behaviour is.]
EXT. ROAD TO HANGING ROCK - GATE
The coach stops at a gate.
[MOVIE Miranda opens the gate and the coach travels on to the picnic ground.]
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - PICNIC GROUND - MIDDAY
[MOVIE The party arrive at the picnic ground just after midday. Around 2pm most of the schoolgirls fall asleep, due to the impact of a faerie spell.]
Four girls - Miranda, Marion, Irma and Edith - come under the influence of an enchantment spell. It draws them to seek to reach the top of Hanging Rock, where there exists a faerie ring, or portal, into the faerie realm.
Miranda, Marion and Irma approach de Poitiers and McCraw, who are resting by a camp fire, the latter reading. De Poitiers, like the rest of the students, is dreamily falling in and out of sleep.
De Poitiers opens her eyes.
MIRANDA Excuse me miss. May we take a walk to the lower slope of the Rock before afternoon tea?
MARION And I should like to take a few measurements at its base if we have time.
Mademoiselle de Poitiers, half asleep, smiles and shakes her head in affirmation.
DE POITIERS Oui.
McCraw lifts her head from the book.
MCCRAW How far is it as the cock crows?
MARION Only a few hundred yards. We shall have to walk along by the creek, which will take a bit longer.
The young student Edith looks on with interest, all the while yawning, surrounded by sleeping colleagues.
EDITH May I come too? I ate so much pie at lunch I can hardly keep awake.
Miranda smiles dreamily and shakes her head.
MIRANDA Okay.
She turns back to de Poitiers.
MIRANDA Don't worry about us, Mam'selle dear. We shall be gone a very little while.
The four head off towards the bush and grassy area leading to the rocky cliff. The three older students appear to glide along.
As she enters the forested area Miranda turns and gravely smiles at de Poitiers.
[Miranda senses the gravity of their decision to leave the group. An overwhelming feeling has entered her head that they must follow a path of light and reach a place of sheer ecstasy, free from the constraints of the college. However, she is unclear about what that is precisely.]
The teacher, in turn, smiles and waves back as the group disappears into the bush.
She exclaims loudly to herself.
DE POITIERS Mon Dieu! Now I know .....
McCraw, somewhat startled, again looks up from her book.
MCCRAW What do you know?
DE POITIERS Miranda .... Elle est un Botticelli ange, an angel, from the Uffizzi.
She then lays down and goes to sleep.
Everyone at the picnic ground is now asleep, except for the McCraw.
[Botticelli dream sequence, featuring Miranda and her two friends, as de Poitiers bridesmaids and angels....]
FADE TO BLACK
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FADE IN
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - CREEK - AFTERNOON
The four schoolgirls walk along the grassy plain interspersed with trees and bush. They come to a creek crossing.
[MOVIE The girls cross the creek and walk towards the area where the track begins to climb. They are observed by Michael and Arthur. Michael follows them for a short period, until they begin climbing and disappear.]
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - BASE OF CLIFF - AFTERNOON
Miranda sees rocky monoliths above her. She turns around and notices Edith looking down on the ground at her legs as she moves through the tall grass. Miranda calls out to her.
MIRANDA No, no, Edith! Not down at your boots! Away up there in the sky.
The sun shines on the side of the rocks, illuminating them with yellow and purple hues.
The girls become engrossed in the environment around them, almost as though in a trance.
[They have now partially entered the faerie realm, which to all intents and purposes appears identical to the normal, human realm. However, it occupies a different dimension, at times overlapping with the human dimension, and with variations in time and space. This explains some of the strange behaviour the group encounter and engage in.]
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - CLIMBING - AFTERNOON
The girls begin to climb over rock and through bush towards the first tier.
Miranda appears to glide along the way, her feet not touching the ground.
All of a sudden there is a silence as they walk along in single file, in something of a daze. As they climb, they now leave no tracks behind.
Edith is not subject to this enchantment and becomes increasingly anxious.
MARION Those peaks … they must be a million years old.
EDITH A million. Oh, how horrible! Miranda! Did you hear that?’
Miranda smiles back.
EDITH Miranda! It's not true, is it?
IRMA My Papa made a million out of a mine once - in Brazil. He bought Mama a ruby ring.
EDITH Money's quite different.
MARION Whether Edith likes it or not, that fat little body of hers is made up of millions and millions of cells.
Edith put her hands over her ears.
EDITH Stop it, Marion! I don't want to hear about such things.
MARION And what's more, you little goose, you have already lived for millions and millions of seconds.
Edith goes white in the face.
EDITH Stop it! You're making me feel giddy.
MIRANDA Ah. don't tease her, Marion. The poor child's overtired.
EDITH Yes, and those nasty ferns are pricking my legs. Why can’t we all sit down on that log and look at the ugly old Rock from here?
MARION Because you insisted on coming with us, and we three seniors want a closer view of the Hanging Rock before we go home.
Edith begins to whimper.
EDITH It's nasty here … I never thought it would be so nasty or I wouldn't have come …
MARION I always thought she was a stupid child and now I know.
IRMA Never mind, Edith. You can go home soon and have some more of Saint Valentine's lovely cake and be happy.
MIRANDA I have a feeling there used to be a track somewhere up there. I remember my father showing me a picture of people in old-fashioned dresses having a picnic at the Rock. I wish I knew where it was painted.
MARION They may have approached it from the opposite side. In those days they probably drove from Mount Macedon. The thing I should like to see are those queer balancing boulders we noticed this morning, from the drag.
MIRANDA We can’t go much further. Remember, girls, I promised Mademoiselle we wouldn't be long away.
The three senior girls - Miranda, Marion and Irma - become more enchanted as they walk along, with a heightened sense of what is around them, both in regard to earth and vegetation, and in a state of increased elation. They are now keen to move on, and not return to the picnic ground, or worry about time as before.
IRMA Well, at least let us see what it looks like over this first little rise.
Irma gathers up her skirt to help move along more easily.
IRMA Whoever invented female fashions for 1900 should be made to walk through bracken fern in three layers of petticoats.
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - ROCKY SHELF & CLIFF - LATE AFTERNOON
The four girls exit the bush and reach a circular, rocky shelf, surrounded by monoliths and large boulders. Miranda helps them up onto this area.
[This is the typical form of a faerie circle. At this juncture Marion becomes aggressive towards Edith, forcing her to flee.]
Irma goes to the edge of the rock and gazes down at the picnic ground below. She sees her fellow students and teacher, Mademoiselle de Poitiers.
She walks back to the group.
IRMA Let's rest here awhile.
MIRANDA OK.
They sit down in the shade of some rocks.
IRMA If only we could stay out all night and watch the moon rise.
Miranda looks back at her rather gravely.
IRMA Now don't look so serious, Miranda, darling - we don't often have a chance to enjoy ourselves out of school.
MARION And without being watched and spied on by that little rat of Lumley.
EDITH Blanche says she knows for a fact Miss Lumley only cleans her teeth on Sundays.
MARION Blanche is a disgusting little know-all, and so are you.
EDITH Blanche says Sara writes poetry. In the dunnie, you know. She found one on the floor all about Miranda.
IRMA Poor little Sara. I don't believe she loves anyone in the world except you, Miranda.
MARION I can't think why.
Miranda replies in a soft, gentle, voice.
MIRANDA She's an orphan.
IRMA Sara reminds me of a little deer Papa brought home once. The same big frightened eyes. I looked after it for weeks but Mama said it would never survive in captivity.
MARION And did it?
IRMA It died. Mama always said it was doomed.
EDITH Doomed? What's that mean, Irma?
IRMA Doomed to die, of course! Like that boy who ‘stood on the burning deck, whence all but he had fled, tra … la ..’ I forget the rest of it.
EDITH Oh, how nasty! Do you think I'm doomed, girls? I'm not feeling at all well, myself. Do you think that boy felt sick in the stomach like me?
MARION Certainly - if he'd eaten too much chicken pie for his lunch. Edith, I do wish you would stop talking for once.
Edith begins to cry.
Miranda and Marion ignore Edith. They remove their stockings and shoes and walk towards a crevice in the rocks.
Edith points at them as they make their way up the next little rise.
EDITH Irma. Just look at them. Where in the world do they think they're going without their shoes?
Irma laughs.
EDITH They must be mad.
Irma removes her stockings and shoes and slings them to her waist.
Edith looks on horrified. She shouts out to Miranda.
EDITH Oh, Miranda, I feel awful! When are we going home?
Miranda stops and turns to look back at Edith. Her gaze is strange, almost as if she could not see her.
EDITH When are we going home?
Miranda turns her back on Edith and walks away up the rise, the other two following behind. All three are sliding, or floating, over the stones on their bare feet, rather than walking.
EDITH Miranda! Miranda!
There is silence. Edith's croaky voice echos off the rocks.
EDITH Come back, all of you! Don't go up there - come back!
Edith feels like she is choking, or being choked. She tears at her frilled lace collar.
EDITH Miranda!
Her strangled cry comes out as only a whisper.
All three girls disappear out of sight behind a large monolith.
EDITH Miranda! Come back!
Edith takes a few unsteady steps towards the rise, sees the girls disappear, and is overcome by a feeling of terror.
EDITH Miranda …!
There is silence for a moment, then Edith begins to scream.
A wallaby springs up and runs from her.
Edith follows it into the bush.
She runs down the mountain towards the picnic ground, all the while stumbling and screaming.
Edith stops for a moment to get her breath.
She briefly looks up and sees an ominous, nasty red cloud in the sky.
She keeps running.
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - GRASSY PLAIN - LATE AFTERNOON
Edith reaches the lower level of the grassy plain.
She looks away into the bush and see a partially dressed Miss McCraw, heading in the other direct towards the Rock.
[This is the changeling version of Miss McCraw. It partially disrobes after secreting away from those asleep at the picnic ground. The changeling objects to the heaviness of the various layers of clothing.]
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - PICNIC GROUND
Edith arrives back to the picnic ground, in an extreme state of terror. The rest of the party commences a search.
EXT. - HANGING ROCK - EARLY EVENING
[MOVIE The students and teacher call off the search and return to Appleyard College.]
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Act 5 - Disappearance
EXT. HANGING ROCK - UPPER SECTION - LATE AFTERNOON
[The people on the Rock are now partially within the faerie realm, where time and space is different to what they know.]
Miranda leads the girls through the rock and bush up to the top level of Hanging Rock, as the sun sets in the west.
An eagle hovers overhead, looking down upon them.
They arrive at a plateau containing boulders, loose stones, occasional stunted trees and rubbery ferns.
They walk to the edge of the cliff and look down below.
They see tiny figures coming and going, through drifts of rosy smoke, and a dark shape that might have been a vehicle beside the glint of water.
[Here they are seeing future events, as in the search party which looks for them during the week following their disappearance.]
IRMA Whatever can those people be doing down there, scuttling about like a lot of busy little ants?
Marion looks over Irma's shoulder.
MARION A surprising number of human beings are without purpose.
Irma giggles euphorically, as though under the influence of a drug.
MARION I dare say they think themselves quite important. Although it's probable, of course, that they are performing some necessary function unknown to themselves.
Irma hears a curious sound coming up from the plain, like the beating of far-off drums. It is the search party.
Miranda looks at a large monolith - a single outcrop of stone like a monstrous egg, rising out of the rocks ahead and above a precipitous drop to the plain.
Miranda and Marion suddenly stop as they get near the monolith, swaying a little, with heads bent and hands pressed to their breasts as if to steady themselves against a gale.
IRMA What is it, Marion? Is anything the matter?
Marion stands by the monolith with eyes fixed and brilliant, nostrils dilated.
To Irma she looks vaguely like a greyhound.
MARION Irma! Don't you feel it?
IRMA Feel what, Marion?
Everything was silent and still.
MARION The monolith. Pulling, like a tide. It's just about pulling me inside out, if you want to know.
Irma is fearful at Marion's seriousness.
Miranda stands behind Irma and calls out over her shoulder.
MIRANDA What side do you feel it strongest, Marion?
MARION I can't make it out. We seem to be spiraling on the surface of a cone - all directions at once.
IRMA Sounds to me more like a circus! Come on, girls - we don't want to stand staring at that great thing forever.
The three girls walk away from the monolith towards an area of flat rock.
Marion pulls out a pencil and notebook.
They are now overcome by an overpowering drowsiness.
Marion tosses the pencil and notebook into the ferns, yawns,and lays down with the other two in a row on the smooth floor of a little plateau.
They fall into a deep sleep
A lizard darts out from under a rock and lays in the hollow of Marion's outflung arm.
Several beetles in bronze armour crawl over Miranda's yellow hair.
EXT. HANGING ROCK - UPPER SECTION - TWILIGHT
[The girls are now located in a Faerie Ring - an area of land circled by rocks and bush which contains a portal into the faerie realm.]
Miranda wakes up first, to a colourless twilight in which every detail is intensified, every object clearly defined and separate.
She looks at a forsaken nest wedged in the fork of a long-dead tree, with every straw and feather intricately laced and woven; she sees Marion's torn muslin skirts fluted like a shell; she notices Irma's dark ringlets standing away from her face in exquisite wiry confusion, the eyelashes drawn in bold sweeps on the cheek-bones. Everything seems to her beautiful and complete, with it's own perfection.
[Miranda is here subject to the faerie glamour or enchantment spell.]
She sees a little brown snake dragging its scaly body across the gravel, and hears a sound like wind passing over the ground. To here, the air is full of clamorous microscopic life.
As Irma and Marion sleep, Miranda's heightened senses hear the separate beating of their two hearts, like two little drums, each at a different tempo.
In the undergrowth beyond the clearing a crackling and snapping of twigs is heard. A living creature moves towards the girls through the scrub. As it draws, the crunchings and cracklings split the silence as the bushes are pushed violently apart.
A heavy object is propelled from the undergrowth, and lands on Miranda's lap.
It was a woman with a gaunt, raddled face trimmed with bushy black eyebrows - a clown-like figure dressed in a torn calico camisole and long calico drawers frilled below the knees of two stick-like legs, feebly kicking out in black lace-up boots.
STRANGER Through! ... Through!
The woman falls on the ground, her eyes closed.
Irma and Marion are awoken by the commotion.
IRMA Poor thing! She looks ill. Where does she come from?
MIRANDA Put your arm under her head, while I unlace her stays.
Miranda removes the stranger's corset. Her head is placed on a folded petticoat. Her breath becomes regular and the strained expression on her face disappears. She rolls over on the rock and goes to sleep.
[This strange woman is the changeling form of Miss Greta McCraw. Her original form has degraded somewhat and she has removed much of her outer garments. As a result, she is no longer recognised by the three girls, who are themselves under an enchantment spell and not necessarily retaining their full faculties, such as memory.]
MARION Why don't we all get out of these absurd garments? After all, we have plenty of ribs to keep us vertical.
The three girls help each other remove their corsets. The four pairs of corsets are then discarded on the stones.
The girls are overwhelmed with a delightful coolness and sense of freedom.
Marion's sense of order and tidiness is affronted.
MARION Everything in the universe has its appointed place, beginning with the plants. Yes, Irma, I meant it. You needn't giggle. Even our corsets on the Hanging Rock.
IRMA Well, you won't find a wardrobe here, however hard you look. Where can we put them?
MIRANDA We could throw them over the precipice. Give them to me.
Miranda takes the corsets, and with Marion by her side, throws them over the cliff.
MARION Which way did they fall? I'm standing right beside you but I cannot tell.
The strange clown-woman intervenes with a croaky voice.
STRANGER You didn't see them fall because they didn't fall. I think, girl, that if you turn your head to the right and look about level with your waist . . .
They all turn their heads to the right and see the corsets floating in the windless air before them.
Miranda picks up a dead branch and lashes out at the corsets as they hang in the grey air.
MARION Let me try!
She strikes them a number of times.
MARION They must be stuck fast in something I can't see.
STRANGER (croaking) If you want my opinion, they are stuck fast in time. You with the curls - what are you staring at?
Irma looks thoughtfully at the stranger.
IRMA I didn't mean to stare. Only when you said that about time I had such a funny feeling I had met you somewhere. A long time ago.
STRANGER Anything is possible, unless it is proved impossible. And sometimes even then. And now, since we seem to be thrown together on a plane of common experience - I have no idea why - may I have your names? I have apparently left my own particular label somewhere over there.
She waved towards the blank wall of scrub.
STRANGER No matter. I perceive that I have discarded a good deal of clothing. However, here I am. The pressure on my physical body must have been very severe.
She passed a hand over her eyes.
MARION Do you suggest we should go on before the light fades?
STRANGER For a person of your intelligence - I can see your brain quite distinctly - you are not very observant. Since there are no shadows here, the light too is unchanging.
Irma looked on worried.
IRMA I don't understand. Please, does that mean that if there are caves, they are filled with light or darkness? I am terrified of bats.
Miranda' face was radiant.
MIRANDA Irma, darling - don't you see? It means we arrive in the light!
IRMA Arrive? But Miranda .... where are we going?
STRANGER The girl Miranda is correct. I can see her heart, and it is full of understanding. Every living creature is due to arrive somewhere. If I know nothing else, at least I know that.
The stranger rises to her feet. For a moment she appears almost beautiful to the three girls.
MARION Actually, I think we are arriving. Now.
Marion feels a sudden giddiness which sets her whole being spinning like a top. It passes, and before her she see the hole floating in the air. It is solid, like a ball, transparent, and large as a summer moon. A portal.
She feels she can look at it forever in wonder and delight.
The hole disappears and Marion feels a sense of peace.
The brown snake appears again, lying beside a crack that extends underneath an enormous boulder.
Miranda bends down and touches it. It then slithers away into a tangle of giant vines.
Marion kneels down beside her and together they begin tearing away the loose gravel and the tangled cables of the vine.
MARION It went down there. Look, Miranda - down that opening.
They see a large hole which is perhaps the lip of a cave or tunnel. It is rimmed with bruised, heart-shaped leaves.
[This is the entry into the faerie realm.]
STRANGER You'll agree it's my privilege to enter first?
MIRANDA & MARION To enter?’ they said, looking from the narrow lip of the cave to the wide, angular hips.
STRANGER Quite simple. You are thinking in terms of linear measurements, girl Marion. When I give you the signal - probably a tap on the rock - you may follow me, and the girl Miranda can follow you. Is that clearly understood?
The stranger's face and bright staring eyes became radiant.
The stranger's body then began to transform as it sought to enter the hole in the ground. The long-boned torso flattened itself on the ground in order to be able to creep and burrow under the earth,and the thin arms crossed behind the head and became the pincers of a giant crab.
The body then dragged itself the hole. The head vanished, then the shoulder-blades, the frilled pantaloons, and finally the long black sticks of the legs welded together like a tail, ending in two black boots.
The three girls watched as the stranger disappeared.
MARION I can hardly wait for the signal.
The sound of a few firm raps was heard from under the rock.
Marion entered the hole, head first.
MIRANDA My turn next.
Irma looked at Miranda kneeling beside the hole. Her bare feet were embedded in vine leaves. She looked calm, beautiful, and unafraid.
IRMA Oh, Miranda, darling Miranda, don't go down there - I'm frightened. Let's go home!
MIRANDA Home? I don't understand, my little love. Why are you crying? Listen! Is that Marion tapping? I must go.
Miranda's eyes shone like stars.
The sound of tapping came again.
Miranda entered the hole head first, pulling her long, lovely legs after her. In a moment she was gone.
Irma sat down on a rock to wait.
A procession of tiny insects was winding through a wilderness of dry moss. Where had they come from? Where were they going? Where was anyone going? Why, oh why, had Miranda thrust her bright head into a dark hole in the ground?
Irma looked up at the colourless grey sky, at the drab, rubbery ferns, and sobbed aloud.
Irma sat for a long time listening and staring. Finally, streams of loose sand came pattering down the boulder on to the flat upturned leaves of the vine. It slowly tilted forward and then sank with a sickening precision directly over the hole, sealing it..
Irma threw herself down on the rocks and tore at the gritty face of the boulder with her bare hands, trying to reopen the who. Her fingers and nails were badly cut and bruised.
After a while she gave up, and lay down to sleep.
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Act 6 - Finding Irma
[MOVIE - Friday, 20th April 1900 - Michael and Albert search on the mountain alone. At the end of the day Michael realises he has been retracing his steps. He pulls out his notebook, removes a number of pages, and starts to attach them to tree branches, marking where he has been. He then meets up with Albert and tells him he has decided to stay overnight on the mountain. Albert returned to Lake View.]
EXT. HANGING ROCK - PICNIC GROUND - EARLY MORNING, SATURDAY 21ST APRIL 1900
Michael leaves his camp site to continue his search on the Rock for the missing girls and their teacher.
He travels along the grassy section, then climbs to the first and second (top) tiers.
EXT. HANGING ROCK - UPPER PLATEAU
He enters the upper plateau and near a large monolith is overcome by a giddiness and sense of dread.
He falls over on a number of occasions, striking his head on rocks. He keeps moving, unwilling to give in to an overwhelming tiredness and concussion.
He moves beyond the monolith and sees a large flat rock ahead, with a body laying on it.
He discovers Irma, unconscious, and is unable to wake her.
He immediately heads back down the mountain to get help.
When he arrives at his camp he begins to collapse. Realising this, he starts to write a note in his notebook:
ALBERT
ABOVE BUSH MY FLAGS
RING OF .... HIGH UP HIGH
HURRY
FOUN ....
Michael faints.
EXT. HANGING ROCK - PICNIC GROUND - EARLY AFTERNOON
Albert arrives at the picnic ground. He finds Michael unconscious. He rides to get help and they take Michael back to Lake View house.
EXT. LAKE VIEW HOUSE - MICHAEL'S ROOM - EARLY MORNING, SUNDAY 22ND APRIL 1900
Albert enters Michael's room and searches his pants. He finds the notebook and last note. He immediately heads off to Hanging Rock.
EXT. HANGING ROCK - UPPER PLATEAU - EARLY AFTERNOON
Albert discovers Irma. He seeks the help of a doctor and carriage. Irma is transported to Lake View house to recover.
FADE TO BLACK
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Act 7 - Path of light
FADE IN
INT. - CAVE TUNNEL
Miranda, Marion and the Stranger walk through a tunnel in the rock. It is dark and at the exit covered in vines.
They come out to a forested area, rich in vegetation and wildlife, with bright sunshine - a magical land.
EXT. - FOREST - MIDDAY
They walk along a path towards a small hill by a creek. They stop at the creek and take a drink of water. Their path diverges here - west towards a range of mountains, or north towards rolling fields. The stranger points to the west.
STRANGER I must go now, but your friend is here and will join with you on your journey.
The stranger disappears before their eyes, leaving a pile of cloths and small mound of dust on the ground.
The girls look around, to their left by the creek they see Greta McCraw sitting on a log, fully clothed though with boots and gloves placed neatly beside her.
Standing nearby is Avron. He smiles at the two girls and calls them over.
AVRON Welcome.
Miranda and Marion hold hands and walk towards them. The enchantment spell remains in place.
MIRANDA This is beautiful. Can we stay?
GRETA Yes. It's all for us, a very special place. I have my books. And Miranda, you can run as free as you like. There are no corsets or heavy skirts here, no rule to be seen and not heard, no staying inside out of fresh air and sun. You can swim in the creek on a hot summer's day, walk in the forest without stockings and stays, talk to the animals and trees and the earth, ride like the wind. There are friends here, and foes.
Marion smiles at Miranda. She walks over to Greta and gives her a hug.
MIRANDA Where are we headed.
GRETA Avron knows.
AVRON Your journey is not yet at its end - it is only just beginning. We must follow the path of light and meet with Nar-wan, our queen. She is waiting for you. But we need be careful. The road ahead is full of danger, of demons and folk who would take you from me. I can protect you, and I see that you are strong of spirit.
MARION Thank you, sir. Please lead the way....
The group heads off down the path through the forest towards mountains, and the realm of Nar-wan ....
END
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Last updated: 5 October 2023
Michael Organ, Australia
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