Vaccie!

Description

15th August 1940. Audrey, a dishevelled 12 year-old evacuee, stumbles out of a remote Northumberland farm in tears, as the farmer, Stanley shouts after her, pulling up his trousers. Audrey flees into the countryside, climbing a steep valley until she eventually collapses with exhaustion. Hearing distant machine-gun fire, she looks up to witness a German bomber plane, on fire, emerging from the clouds. The aircraft swoops right over her head, eventually crashing into a thicket of trees below. With morbid curiosity, Audrey wanders through the smouldering wreckage, discovering the body of a pilot, slumped against a tree. She dares to prise out of his hand, a photo of him embracing his young daughter. It’s clear they have an endearing bond. The pilot suddenly coughs, making her jump and scaring her away. Approaching the farmhouse, Audrey spies Stanley’s teenage son, Jimmy, returning from his morning bike deliveries. He is angry that Audrey has abandoned her chores. She decides to stay away, becoming increasingly enchanted by the pilot’s photo. At dusk, Audrey eventually dares to return to the farmhouse. Stanley ignores her, but Jimmy, jealous of the attention his father gives her, starts a fight with her, forcing Stanley to break it up. Audrey heads straight to her make-shift bedroom, barricading the door with a chair. The next morning the Home Guard appear, asking the farmer and his son to help them search for the missing pilot. Alone in the house, Audrey catches him gulping water from the kitchen jug. He begs her not to call out. Instead, Audrey hides him, feeds him, cleans up his wounds and hands him back the photo. He’s touched by her kindness, explaining through crude sign language, that he has to get back home to Germany - his daughter needs him. Together, they plan a safe route to cycle silently through the night. Audrey will return to her mother in North Shields where the pilot can then steal a fishing boat to cross the channel.That night, Audrey cautiously brings the pilot out of hiding, dressed in Stanley\'s old clothes. They head towards the back door to retrieve the bicycle, only to find Jimmy waiting for them with his Dad\'s shotgun. He wakes his father, but when Stanley sees the determined look in Audrey\'s eyes, he calmly tells his son to let them go. Jimmy is outraged, accusing Audrey of being a traitor. Stanley steps forward to protect Audrey, but she recoils in terror by his sudden close proximity. Jimmy suddenly realises what his Dad’s done to her. In utter disgust, the boy breaks down in despair, allowing Audrey and the Pilot to make their escape. The pilot pushes the bicycle up onto the country road and mounts the saddle. Audrey sits in the front basket. They glance back at the farmhouse, before wobbling off down the country road, eventually disappearing into the night.

Biblical Connection

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) is renowned, yet often misunderstood. In a society that is increasingly divided, where ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is judged on what ‘group’ someone belongs to, rather than who they actually are as individuals, the question of ‘who is my neighbour?’ seems pertinent. Just as the Jew and the Samaritan, would not ordinarily have been friendly towards each other, so is it true of Audrey and the Luftwaffe pilot. Jesus’ parable is purposefully simplistic and segmented for clarity, but real-life is more complexed, so I want to blend and weave these elements more naturally, to help strengthen the story and disguise the original source. For example, Stanley (from Audrey’s perspective) is both the robber, the priest and the landlord. His son Jimmy represents the Levite and the audience (wider society) represent the self-important ‘lawyers’ that challenge Jesus. Audrey and the German pilot can both be seen as Good Samaritans, but in different ways. The Pilot’s clothing is physically shredded, he is covered in cuts and bruises and left half-dead after the plane crash, whereas Audrey’s abuse, is an implicit ‘robbery’ that is more psychological. More broadly, they have been robbed by the World War.