First story draft

Here is the first draft of my film story. It isn't perfect, but I think it's a start!

It was deathly cold and the snow came down in large clumps, silencing the entire world. But that didn't stop her from remaining in her place, long after everyone else had left. She stared down at the simple marker through solemn eyes, reading the passage over and over until she had it memorised. 'Here lies …. A wife and a mother. She will be missed. RIP.' There weren't any tears left to cry, only emptiness that reflected the silent world around her.

It was then that she heard a rustle, and with quick startled eyes turned to the source. There was nothing there,but it didn't stop her from glancing all around her, puffs of white breath dancing across the air as she exhaled. A movement to her right sent her spinning around again, and nervously she backed away from the grave, deciding that perhaps it was time to head home. It was then that she saw the dog. It was white with red tipped ears and it almost seemed to glow faintly. She could only stare in awe as the massive dog bounded gracefully towards her, and took a giant leap before disappearing into the ground of the freshly dug grave. She didn't have to wait long before the red tipped ears appeared, and with them the rest of the dog, accompanied by a strange glowing orb. Without even glancing at her, the dog raced away, sending powdered snow flying into the air behind it. She watched in an undisguised awe, before sense returned to her, and she began to realise exactly what had happened. The dog had leapt into her beloved mothers grave, and had taken something with it. Whatever it was, it had belonged to her mother, and she was determined to get it back.

All at once, she was running, stumbling in the snow in an effort to catch up to the ethereal dog. Calling for the animal to stop did no good, it simply ignored her, and so she chased. Soon she was joined by more dogs, leaping out from behind trees and racing over the valleys. As one passed her, she noticed more orbs travelling with the dogs, and wondered if they had been stolen also. It wasn't long before the landscape began to change, from the snowy hills and valleys to something bizarre, dark at first, and then bright and lively. Strange, inhuman figures past her as she ran, ignoring her as much as the dogs were and going about their business, whatever it might be. Beautiful maidens danced and laughed, and muscled men shot arrows and swung swords and it was almost too much to take in without forgetting about the dogs she was chasing. She began to realise that she was actually enjoying herself. She was not as breathless as she would have expected, keeping the same pace with a stubborn gait, but this new world was bright and joyful, and even something as simple as chasing a pack of dogs provided a lot more excitement than anything at home had to offer, especially now. Soon they left the colourful figures behind, and it became darker and more solemn. The girl didn't notice, too wrapped up in her own joy to care about anything else but running.

And then she hit something hard with a force she did not expect. It sent her flying to the ground and she looked up surprised. In front of her was a blue glow, much like the orb taken from her mothers grave. Except this one was a wall, a great unmoving wall, and while she could see the other side clearly, she could not pass, no matter how much she pushed and shoved at the wall. The last dog disappeared into the distance of the darker world, and with a small sob, the girl called out for them to stop, but they didn't hear, and they didn't obey. Sitting down with a dejected slump, the girl looked around for anything that might seem familiar, but there was nothing and she knew she was lost. With a great sob she began to cry, letting out all the emotions that she had denied herself even at the funeral. It was the sound of a panting dog that caused her to look up from her misery, and she turned to see a dog and a figure walking steadily towards her. There was no orb, but she had no doubt that this was the dog that had taken her mothers orb.

The figure turned out to be a man. He was scary, but he looked noble, and rich, and unused to being disobeyed. Staring down at her with grave eyes, he asked her what she was doing chasing his dogs and sitting at his gates, and she replied that she was chasing the orb that the dog had stolen from her mothers grave. It was then that he smiled sadly and patted her head gently. It was the dogs job, he explained, to take the orb. That it needed to be done so that her mother could rest in piece. She looked at him in confusion, but the man would not explain further than that, only offering that one day, she would be able to understand fully. She nodded reluctantly, and patted the dog slowly. It was then that the man asked her if she was ready to return home. She stared up at him, and asked if he knew the way. He did, he replied, and placed a large hand on her head. There was suddenly snow whipping up all around her, and she closed her eyes against the storm. When she opened them again, everything was calm and she was back in the grave yard, a small distance from her mothers grave. There was someone else at the grave now, sitting in the same dejected pose that she had only recently taken herself, and she could see it was her father. Breaking into a run, she called him, and barrelled into his side. Because she wasn't the only one hurting from his mothers death. I'm still here for you, she promised him, and he smiled, holding her in a firm hug. It was still snowing heavily as they left the graveyard. Still bitterly cold and gloomy. But it didn't matter any more, because they were going home.

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I don't think that the story is anywhere near perfect! In fact, I am extremely reluctant to have the bit with the god of the underworld, but it is there because I need something to fill that space. I think that the ending is nice though, and rounds it off in a nice way.