Mark’s Life in Scotland

Write a Script on Mark’s Garden.

the dark secret

asgow, scotland

ext.scotland

montage of general shots of beautiful scotland city 

int.mark’s hospital

glasgow, scotland 

mark, a young man from scotland works as a staff nurse in intensive care unit of a hospital. he loves taking care of the people and that is why he loves his job. he would not quit his job at any circumstance. he was married to a lovely girl named chilly, back in 1998 and they had a great time together.

mark is taking a walk in his garden and spending quality time with family.

a voice over rolls in…

i am a very happy man with my kids around me. but all the happiness is diminishing because of a deep secret buried inside me. it’s a chapter that i don’t want to read out loud. the truth is i am a gay and i don’t belong to this place. i grew up in a strict catholic society that strictly opposes this fact of mine. this ugly truth is killing me inside and i want to share it with my wife so that she can move on in her life.

mark

baby, i want to confess something

chilly

what is it?

mark

this is not a place where i belong

chilly

what are you talking about? i can’t understand

mark

something is killing me inside

chilly

please tell me for god’s sake.

mark

i am sorry honey… i am gay

chilly

no…

mark

yes…

chilly

you cheated on me

mark

i didn’t want to hurt you. but this is the truth.

chilly

you can leave. 

two weeks later, mark and chilly had a divorce. mark moved into another apartment of one of his friend named jennifer. it was really a very bad time for him. he lost his job and was on the verge of becoming a bankrupt. one night he picked up a book on career options and found an advertisement in the nursing job section that read “urgently required nursing staff in the middle east.” both jennifer and mark applied for the job. few weeks later mark received a phone call.

phone call

am i speaking to mark?

mark

yes, speaking.

phone call

congratulations sir, both you and your friend has been shortlisted for the job.

you can join us in our hospital in riyadh.

mark

thank you very much.

can both of us stay together?

The Confession

phone call

yes.

mark

that would be great, thanks.

phone call

we are sending you rest of the details in your mail. please go through it.

mark

ya sure, thanks. bye.

both mark and jennifer are very excited. while packing the bags, mark reads the contract paper which says that riyadh is a country that follows strict islamic rules, alcohol and homosexuality are crimes and people found guilty can be punished to death. these lines left him in a state of shock. he thought of prohibiting sex. nothing was left for him in this city and so he has to take this stern decision. 

cut to riyadh airport

both landed at the riyadh airport. a guy comes to receive them and opens the door of his car for jennifer.

driver

madam, please.

i wanted to sit with jennifer but the driver prevented me from doing that….

driver

sir, you are not allowed to sit on the back side. come and sit with me.

mark

but what’s wrong with that?

driver

rules are rules….

you are not even allowed to talk inside a car.

it was again a shock for both of them but they found no alternative to this problem. after driving for a few hours, they stopped in front of a building.

driver

madam, you are going to stay in this building.

mark

but they told us that we can stay together. how can you do this?

driver

i am doing my job, sir.

he asked me to sit inside the car and drove me to a lonely apartment.

int. mark’s apartment

mark was once again left shocked. there were cockroaches everywhere inside the apartment. it was the worst place to live in.

int. mark’s apartment

next morning, he wakes up excited as well as tensed and leaves for his office.

int. mark’s hospital

he enters into a hall and reports to the assistant director of nursing who reads out the dos and donts while dealing with saudi patients..

nurse

first of all, you are not allowed to touch any patient’s beard…and most importantly, you are not allowed to see the faces of the female patients during their treatment. the whole hospital is under cctv coverage and if you break any rule, you will be in great trouble. thank you for your attention. 

int. mark’s hospital

intensive care department

two days after joining, he works in the intensive care department and a male nurse comes and shakes hands with him.

Mark’s Move to Saudi Arabia

male nurse

welcome to hell…

mark was left bewildered.

he came to know from another nurse, that he is gay.

int. mark’s apartment

he was really worried about his existence in this country, where homosexuality is a crime. his life became really boring because of his daily routine- home to hospital and vice versa. about three weeks later, he got good news. it was about a party.

int. party hall

people are drinking alcohol with loud arabic music around. one saudi man comes to greet me.

saudi man

would you like to take some drink?

mark

who are you?

saudi man

i am prince. you can enjoy here.

it was a real party. people were dancing, taking heroine and merry-making. there were lots of gay people dancing on the floor. mark started dancing with a drink in his hand. a gay person comes in front of him.

gay person

would you like to dance?

mark

ok.

while dancing, the man holds his hand and the touch arouses an irresistible sensation within mark. he somehow manages to escape from that party but there is a constant question running into his mind that if others can do it then why can’t he? he was confused once again. one day he goes to his friend’s home and while taking a sip of coffee, he takes a book from the shelf which titles “virtual protection in saudi arabia.”

mark

can i take this?

mark’s friend

o yes.

he goes back to his place and starts turning the pages of the book. the book was full of information regarding virtual protection and suddenly an idea of internet surfing strikes in his mind in spite of knowing the fact that the saudi government is monitoring the internet. he was searching for some gay dating site.

int. mark’s room

he put the curtains on windows and opens his laptop. following the steps from the book, he types “gay dating site in saudi”. there were hundreds of results displayed on the screen.

mark

o my god!

a message pops up on the screen “would you like to chat?” mark types ‘yes’ and saw a photo on the screen. it was a very handsome gay guy from saudi. he smiles and starts chatting.

mark

you are good looking.

peter

would you like to date?

mark

o yes. when it could be possible?

peter

today.

mark (very nervous but relaxed at the same time)

Living in a Strict Islamic Society

ok.

few hours later, there’s a knock at the door. mark opens the door. it was peter.

peter

hey mark

mark

o my god peter, it’s you!

int. mark’s bedroom

mark immediately closes all the doors. he forgets that homosexuality is a crime in saudi arabia. they make love that night. peter wakes up early the next morning.

peter (kisses on mark’s hand)

see you soon mark.

mark’s life was taking a new turn. he starts dating peter regularly. it was love more than lust. he was completely unaware of the danger that awaited him. one day while roaming on the street, peter tries to kiss mark.

mark

well, what are you doing? people are watching us.

peter

sorry about that.

they start walking again. it was a nice day.

int. mark’s bedroom

after reaching home, mark starts reading the book again and finds the golden rule of virtual dating which suggests that the contact information should be deleted from the phone and local numbers should not be used as they can drive you into serious trouble if get caught red-handed by the saudi police.

mark

sorry peter, i can’t continue.

peter

what’s wrong with you? am i not making you happy?

mark

sorry peter, i love you.

mark disconnects the call. he feels sad about it as he was deeply in love with peter. it was christmas with no celebrations. he felt lonely. once again he opens his laptop and switch on to the dating website. this time a picture of a saudi boy abdulla popped up on the screen and the message read “would you like to chat?”

mark

where do you belong from?

abdulla

i belong to saudi but i did my education in uk.

mark (after thinking for some time)

if it is safe, i would like to meet you.

abdulla

don’t worry about that.

abdulla was a local young boy of saudi. next day mark makes arrangements to meet abdulla at the coffee shop.

int. coffee shop

mark

hey, how are you?

abdulla (he was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of pants)

from how long have you been living here?

mark

around one year.

abdulla

great. i want to leave this country and go to the west. this place is hell.

int. mark’s bedroom

after finishing the coffee, both of them go to mark’s place and have sex. after two hours, abdulla goes back to his home. mark starts reading the book again and this time he finds it saying “don’t get involved with a saudi man.” he decides not to date abdulla again.

The Party

few days later

ext. riyadh market

mark receives an sms from abdulla which read “would you like to come over for coffee tonight? do you have any alcohol?”

mark replies “see you at the place where we met first”

ext. dark empty street of riyadh: night

mark goes to meet abdulla. he takes a short route and feels that someone is following him. he starts running but the man continued following him. he hits mark at the back and gives him a punch. few other men also started following mark and they hit him very badly. mark falls down on the ground. one of them stops him.

moral police

stop. check his phone. he is gay. you are selling alcohol. he showed the text message to mark.

mark

it’s nothing like that.

they drags him to the jeep on the corner of the road, puts him inside. many questions started running in mark’s mind. “should i face trial or will i be directly sent to jail?” he realises that he is in serious trouble. they take him to the police station and keep him in the lock-up for few hours. then they announce his name and take him to the interrogation room.

three men were sitting on the other side of the table. one of them said,

officer

you are gay and selling alcohol. admit that.

mark

1. i am not gay.

officer

do you think we are fools?

mark

1. i don’t.

one of the officers starts hitting mark and puts one paper with something written in urdu on the table.

officer

sign here.

mark

i don’t know what is written on the paper.

officer

you don’t have any choice.

mark gets scared and signs the paper. after signing, mark is asked to leave for the time being. they take his passport. mark feels happy about the fact that they are not going to kill him. he rushes to his apartment after his release.

he closes the doors and tries to clear all evidences. he cleanses his laptop and deletes every photograph. he burns all the pages of the book.

after this incident, mark suffers a mental shock. he couldn’t sleep properly. he thinks of escaping the country. he looked at his contract and found that he will be able to go to his country only if any of his family members falls sick. an idea emerged in his mind. he called up his sister.

mark

Surviving in Riyadh

hey, machara i am in serious trouble here. i need your help.

machara

what has happened mark? tell me what i can do.

mark

you have to send me a fax that says my mother is seriously ill and she wants me to come home as soon as possible.

machara

what’s the problem?

mark

please so as i say. i will tell you everything later.

machara

’ll do that.

 next day

int. mark’s hospital

mark receives a fax copy and shows it to the public relationship officer, imran.

int. imran’s office

mark

sir, i have to go home. my mother is ill.

imran (after checking the fax)

no you are not allowed to go back.

mark

but rule book says that i can leave this country in case of family emergency.

imran

there is a criminal record against you. i can’t allow you.

mark

please understand.

imran

i can help you only if you provide me with documents from the police that state you are innocent.

mark

ok sir. i’ll do that. 

mark leaves his office and goes to the police station.

int. police station riyadh

mark

sir i wanted to know if there is any case against me.

policeman

it will take ten days to check the records. come after ten days.

mark

ten days?

policeman

yes, ten days. you may leave.

he leaves for his home.

int. mark’s room

mark misses his family badly. it was really hard for him to spend ten more days.

after ten days,

mark wakes up early in the morning, prays to god and leaves for the police station.

int. police station

mark was perspiring in front of the policeman.

mark

sir, i wanted to know about my record.

there were numerous case files piled up and the policeman was going through those one by one.

policeman

wait. let me check.

mark. ya.

after some time, he handed a piece of paper to mark.

mark

sir i don’t understand that.

policeman

oh there is no record.

mark

what? no record?

policeman

yes. no record. you can go back.

mark

thank you sir.

that was the happiest day of his life. he started dancing, called his wife and informed of his homecoming. he goes back to his room, starts packing his bags. he is finally going to leave this country. he booked air tickets and got back his passport. he starts turning the pages of his passport while kissing it.