FADE IN:
EPIGRAPH (FRITZ-QUAD)
“No past, no future. Every day flavoured grey and every dish served cold.”
INT. ABANDONED ORPHANAGE - MORNING
It's darker than usual, and everything is a dull colour. There's a baby left in a doorway wrapped in dirty blankets. After someone discovers it, the FOUNDLING is brought into the building.
INT. OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Beneath lamplight softened with age the CHILD stirs as the legal wheels begin to spin. The new addition is subsumed into the orphanage. There's paperwork and sighs, as the process of accepting the BABY goes on.
SEQUENCE OF SCENES - VARIOUS
The KIDS at the orphanage look tired as they do their chores. They look like they're carrying a heavy burden.
INT. CLASSROOM - MORNING
Chalk dust stirs in the light as the saying on the blackboard catches one CHILD’S attention.
“The unmistakable distinction between a cage and a trap; one is placed within a cage, while one enters a trap willingly…”
One CHILD gazes through a veiled window: two people possibly fighting? The image is distorted and hard to make out. The child becomes scared.
EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY
The CHILDREN are shouting and arguing, dividing up the playground into territories. They take turns on a creaky swing: whoever is on it is in charge. Sandbox kingdoms rise and fall. Winners smile; losers wail, history preserved in the echoes of their revelry.
FADE OUT: