The Lost Voice

[“YODELER” BY X CARBON PLAYS]

[DIGITAL KEYSTROKES]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

In the thicket of a forest, a little girl stands and examines her surroundings. She wears striped pyjamas with an overcoat. A large medallion rests on her collared shirt. She lifts the medallion and opens it to a compass.

[HEAVY FOOTSTEPS]

[CRUNCHING]

Now, a large, pink-and-white, floppy-eared, furry creature, wearing a green leafy shirt and red-rimmed glasses approaches.

Narrator: Why, oh why, creature, are you so quiet? You’ve lost your voice?

The furry creature nods his head up and down.

Narrator: I’ll help you find it!

They look at the girl’s compass. The directional disc twitches.

[CLICKING]

Girl: Let’s go!

[HEAVY FOOTSTEPS]

Girl: Let’s look over here.

The little girl waves her hand, and the furry creature lumbers slowly behind her. The little girl searches among shrubs and tree branches as he walks beside a body of still water.

Narrator: Maybe your voice is under this log.

[RUSTLING]

Encircled by dense vegetation and thick trees, the furry creature squats down and lifts a log layered in moss. The little girl lies near it and looks underneath.

Narrator: No voice there.

[CROAKING]

Just this frog.

A frog wearing a tan-sleeved cloak drops down, then leaps away. Now the little girl and creature search on separate hillsides.

Girl: [SHOUTING] Anything?

The furry creature lifts his empty hands in the air. The little girl leads the creature through rows of tall trees. They look up towards a tree branch.

Narrator: Could it be up in that tree?

[HOOTING]

A wide-eyed owl, perched on a branch, turns its head left and right.

Narrator: Not in my tree. Nothing to see.

The duo continue to walk through the forest, then across a sandy hill. Now, they rest on top of a narrow, wiggly mound. The little girl eats a snack from a bag, then offers some to the furry creature. The mound rumbles, then turns its stone eyes and brows up to the little girl and creature.

Narrator: Can it be found atop the mound?

[RUMBLING]

Or is it deep down underground?

The pair and the mound look down below them at sprouts in the ground. Under the soil, a turnip smiles and pivots left to right.

[THUNDERCLAP]

Narrator: Have you checked in the boat?

On a small tugboat, the duo ride down a treacherous wave. The little girl sits one foot on the boat’s edge and leans forward. Rain and wind furiously overwhelm them.

[WAVES BREAKING]

Girl: I can’t find it!

Narrator: Or did it fall back down your throat?

Now on the shore, the girl holds a telescope. Next to her, the furry creature sits patiently. She looks into the creature’s mouth. The creature’s oversized teeth frame her face.

Narrator: Open your mouth. Open wide. Why, I can’t see your voice inside.

[WIND BLOWING]

[FIRE CRACKLING]

On a log beside a fire, the pair sit dejected. The girl moves closer to the creature. He gently cradles her under his arm. In the distance, clouds hover across the horizon and waves gently move. Now in a bedroom next to a nearly sleeping girl, “The Lost Voice” storybook lies open. On the last page, a little girl and large furry creature sit on a log.

Narrator: It seems you have so much to say.

Beside her bed, the little girl’s father sits in a wheelchair, wearing a green leafy shirt, with an iPhone mounted to his armrest. He types on his iPhone.

Father: [USING PERSONAL VOICE] I’m sure we’ll find another way.

Girl: Read it again.

The father types on his iPhone.

Father: [USING PERSONAL VOICE] OK.

[DIGITAL KEYSTROKES]

One more time.

The father pats his daughter’s head.