A young girl is found sitting despondently by a grave. It is snowing heavily and the graveyard is covered in a thick layer of snow. The little girl is sitting crossed-legged, holding a small flower in her hand. The grave itself is covered in flowers and presents, suggesting the the grave is new. She reaches over and balances the flower on top of a pile of snow. Smiling sadly, she reaches to brush the snow from a picture frame, beginning to push the flakes away before stopping suddenly and looking up. Up on a nearby hill stands a white dog watching her. The dog wags its tail, crouching down as if inviting the girl to come and play. The dog leaps around in a circle, and the girl smiles in amusement at the dog, before getting up and brushing off the snow. The dog has stopped and is watching her again. She begins to run up towards the waiting dog, before a sound stops them both, and they turn to the source of the noise. The girl squints to try and see, but she cannot see what it is, she turns back towards the dog, but notices that the dog has gone, and immediately runs to the top of the hill to see where he's gone. She sees the dog running to the edge of the graveyard and he leaps over a style. The girl watches the dog disappear sadly, before looking up as the dog sticks his head back over the style as if waiting for her to follow. With a happy smile, she races down the hill towards the style, clambering over it and looking for the dog again. By now the dog is swimming across a river, and the girl eagerly follows, slipping slightly and stopping when she comes to the river, afraid to cross. The dog watches her, as if encouraging her to cross, not understanding why she is reluctant to cross, but as she looks down towards the river she gets scared and steps back. The dog moves away and the girl realises he is leaving, and she reaches out to ask him to wait. It is then that she spots the stepping stones, and calls out to the dog again, who stops and watches as she runs over to the stepping stones. She crosses carefully and the dog leaps up happily before disappearing into a forest.
OR
The dog crosses at the stepping stones, but the girl still stops, seeing how fast the river is running and becoming scared. No matter how much the dog seems to encourage her, it seems too scary until the dog begins to leave, at which point she realises that she will loose the dog if she does not cross. She considers turning back, looking back towards the graveyard and then the dog. She makes the decision to follow the dog, and calls out for him to wait, before fearfully crossing the stepping stones. Once she reaches the other side, the dog leaps off again into the forest.
The girl reaches the forest and looks up fearfully. The forest looks intimidating and scary. She enters cautiously, looking all around her. She sees the dog up ahead in a clearing, and runs towards him in relief, but by the time she gets there the dog is gone, and she cannot tell which way the dog has gone. She looks around in fear, and everything looks terrifying to her. A rustling noise gets her attention and as she looks towards the source, a different, more menacing dog comes out from behind a bush. It is growling, and the girl turns to run in another direction. However, there is another dog when she turns, and there are more appearing out of the shrubbery. She backs up fearfully as the dogs close in on her, covering her eyes and crouching down to curl up. She suddenly looks up, and her dog is standing protectively in front of her, growling at the other dogs who back away quickly. The dog turns towards her, bumping her with his nose and giving her a reassuring lick. She reaches up to hug the dog, who turns slightly to nudge her onto his back. She clings to him tightly and the dog begins to run again, this time with the little girl on his back. The girl soon finds herself brave enough to sit up properly and look ahead. She looks ahead in surprise and a little fear. Up ahead the forest is ending, and there is a bright light. The dog clears the forest in one more big leap and the girl smiles in delight. The pair have appeared in a field of beautiful flowers, much like the flower that the girl was holding at the beginning. She jumps of the dogs back and runs to play with the flowers, turning in a circle happily while the dog watches on happily, resting underneath a tree. The flower field seems to stretch on forever, and petals dance through the air. The petals morph back into snow and we return to the graveyard, and the grave that the little girl had been sitting at. The camera focuses in on the picture that the girl had been wiping snow off. The image shows he little girl and the picture fades out.
Notes: Crossing the river is meant to be a symbol of passing into the realm of the dead. In some culture/ mythology dead people have to cross rivers to get to the land of the dead, e.g. the river styx.
The film is about being able to move on by looking at one of the hardest subjects to move on from; death. The film is about the little girls realisation that she is dead, and through that realisation being able to move on. At the river when she hesitates in crossing, she first begins to realise something, and had the choice to turn back or go on. When she turns back the graveyard is meant to look cold and uninviting to signify being unable to move on is the wrong way to go, and is not a pleasant experience. On the other hand, the dog represents moving on and the freedom that comes with moving on. He is there to guide her to the land of the dead and be her guardian as she does so. The fact that she cannot catch him signifies that she has not yet accepted her death, and the fact that she keeps loosing him also means that she is not ready to move on.
When she loses the dog for the last time, she fully begins to realise what is happening and the fear of what might happen makes her want to turn back and give up. The other dogs are trying to push her to move on, but in a more forceful way that is not working, causing her to realise that she really is dead. The moment that her guardian dog returns to rescue her, is the moment that she gains the strength to move on, no matter what the consequences might be. However, she still needs the help to move on, and by taking her onto his back, the dog signifies that.
At the end, the girl has moved on and realises that moving on wasn't so bad, and was in fact a good thing for her. Now that she has found new happiness, she has the strength to leave behind everything that was stopping her from moving on.
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