Tom has a bad day at school where he is bullied by David. He goes for a walk in the nearby Jubilee Gardens forest against a police warning. Tom gets lost for hours in the dark forest with his broken phone. He finds a bench to rest but then hears strange noises. Tom investigates and encounters a masked man who reveals he kills one person in the forest each year due to his mother's murder there years ago. The man fatally stabs Tom.

1. “FORBIDDEN FORREST”
By
Bradley McGonigle
PARSONAGE BARN LN,
RINGWOOD BH24 1SE
01425 475000

2. 2
FADE IN:
SCHOOL CLASSROOM
INT: location #1
The bell rings to signal the end of the school day
for Tom, as he is packing up his school stuff into
his bag he plugs in his headphones and walks out of
his classroom. We can see from his face that he is
happy to be leaving sixth form.
Cuts to;
EXT: location #2
School gate
We see Tom as he is approaching the school gate to
leave, he is still listening to his music and is
still alone. As he approaches he sees that there is
someone waiting by the gate.
As he is close to the gate it becomes clear to Tom
that the person standing near it is David who is
also a student at the school that has been bullying
a lot of people in the school with Tom being one of
them. Tom doesn’t want to approach David because he
knows that he will say something mean but he has to
as this was the only way out of school. Tom looks
up at David shortly before looking back down at the
floor.
David
Who are you looking at?
Tom
Sorry I’m not looking at anything I’m just trying
to leave school.

3. 3
As Tom is walking past, David sticks out his leg
and trips over Tom and he stumbles and falls to the
ground. David starts laughing at Tom whilst he is
on the floor but Tom looks very embarrassed and
upset because he hadn’t had a good day and he is
fed up of David bullying him. Tom gets up and walks
off.
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #3
Near school
Tom is still walking in a location not by the
school and he is still listening to his music, he
pulls out his phone and he realises that his phone
is damaged from where David had tripped him over.
It still works however it is on the brink of
breaking and it doesn’t look like it would work for
long. Tom calls his mum to explain what happened.
Tom (on the phone)
Hi mum I won’t be coming straight home from school
because I have not had a great day and I’m going
for a walk before dinner.
There is a pause between Tom speaking and his mum
replying as we can’t hear what she is saying to
him.
Tom (on the phone)

4. 4
I haven’t had the best of days because David has
been bullying me again, he tripped me over when I
was walking out the gate.
Toms mum replies but we don’t hear what she says to
him and then he hangs up the phone, Tom still looks
upset but he plugs back in his headphones and
continues walking.
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #4
Outside woods
After walking for a while Tom stumbles upon a
relatively large forest area that intrigues him so
he decides he will walk round it for a little bit
before going home to see his mum. He gets his phone
out to send a text to his mum.
Tom (texting)
Will be home in about an hour mum.
He puts his phone away and approaches the woods.
EXT: location #5
Entrance to the woods
Tom walks towards the entrance and sees a big sign
on the side of the walkway, the sign says “Jubilee
gardens” the name of the forest area. Further down
the sign it says “Police warning, DO NOT ENTER”.

5. 5
Tom looks at the large sign for a few seconds
contemplating whether he should go into the area.
He looks around to see if there are any dangers to
him and doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary so
he carries on walking into the forest area ignoring
the police warning.
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #6 (4 hours later)
Inside woods
Tom is walking through the forest with an unhappy
look on his face, it is dark around him and he
looks at his watch which reads “20:00”.
Tom
I have been walking around in circles for hours
where am I?
Tom gets out his phone from his front right pocket
to see if it is working but he discovers that it is
broken.
Tom
If only David wasn’t such a bully and didn’t break
my phone I’d be able to get out of this mess.
Tom puts his phone back into his phone and keeps
looking around. At this time he is starting to
panic.

6. 6
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #7
Bench
In an opening in the forest that Tom has been
walking around in he spots a small bench next to
some bushes.
When Tom first sees the bench he sighs in relief as
he has been walking round for a long time and wants
to sit down.
Tom approaches the bench and sits down which brings
an expression of relief onto his face. He reaches
into his school bag and get out a bag of crisps
that he had left from his lunch and starts eating.
Tom takes a deep breath…
Tom (Exhaling)
I guess I’m going to have to spend the night here.
The scene cuts to Tom an hour later.
Tom is lying down on the bench that he has been on
for a while. He is starting to get tired and
scared.
As he is closing his eyes he starts to hear a
rustling noise coming from the bush that is behind
him. He sits up in relief as he thinks someone is
there who will be able to help him but when he
turns round he sees nothing.
Tom

7. 7
Hello? Is anyone there? I’m lost and I just need
some help getting home because my phone broke.
There is no reply so Tom lies back down.
Tom
I must be going crazy. I mean look at me I’m
talking to myself.
Tom suddenly hears the noise again coming from the
same area so he gets up off the bench and despite
his fear goes towards the noise to look for some
help.
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #8
Footpath in the forest
Near the bench where Tom has been sitting there is
a parting between the trees that almost looks like
an alleyway in the forest.
Tom hears the noise from near here and he pokes his
head round the corner.
Tom
Who’s there?
As Tom is speaking a scary looking masked man
appears round the corner down the other side of the
path and walks towards Tom

8. 8
Tom
Hi can you please help me, I’m lost, alone and I’m
scared.
The man starts sprinting at Tom which causes him to
start running away because he doesn’t know the man.
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #9
Tree stump
Whilst Tom is running away as fast as he can from
the mysterious looking man he runs into a tree
stump and breaks his leg. Tom is now screaming in
pain whilst the man is now no longer running but
walking towards Tom whilst he is on the ground.
Tom (In pain)
Who are you and what do you want from me?
The man reaches into one of his pockets and pulls
out a long sharp knife.
Tom
Why are you doing this to me? I’ve never hurt
anybody.

9. 9
Masked man
5 years back someone brutally stabbed my mother in
these exact woods and ever since that day I have
vowed to kill on person who enters this forest
every year just the same way they did to her!
The man stabs Tom as the screen fades to black.
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #10
Woods
The screen is fading to black in and out and the
masked man is dragging Tom’s dead body to get rid
of it
Cuts to;
EXT: Location #11
Phone
Toms phone is on the floor where he got stabbed and
it has just started to work again.
The phone rings and it is his mum calling but it
doesn’t get answered.
THE END

10. 10