Sticks & Stones

A “Wicked Cool” FILM
WRITTEN BY Ryan Price

From the outside looking in, Jim is a normal man. Separated from his wife, he shares a bungalow with his dog in the sleepy coastal town of Nelson. He walks his dog along the windswept beach every morning and collects the daily newspaper on his way home. He goes to the movies in the winter and attends to his own impressive vegetable garden in the summer.

Jim has not talked since 1987. No one knows why, and no one bothers to ask anymore. Apart from his dog, Jim has only one friend, a free spirited 10-year-old boy that lives at the end of his cul-de-sac. They meet once or sometimes twice a week, depending on the strength of the nor-westerly, to fly kites. The strategically placed streamer, tied to a lamp post that can be seen from both Jim and the boys house, flutters horizontally towards the park when conditions are ideal. On a day when the streamer was struggling to hang on to the post, Jim witnessed the boy being sexually abused in the far corner of the park. Not completely lost in lust, the offender sees Jim and fleas, but not before throwing one last glance in his direction.

Will Jim take the stand and testify against the man that ruined his young friends life, or will the demons from his past keep his lips sealed forever?