It is the close of the evening and the sky is turning dark.
We see the inside of a cabin. There’s an old man holding
a cup of water for his son to drink
OLD MAN: Yeah, drink the water, it will do you good.
Not too greedy now, just a little sip for your thirst.
The old man takes out a bottle from his pocket and takes some sips himself
OLD MAN: Can’t see a man drinking without getting thirsty myself.
A sudden gush of wind makes the door creak and go open.
The younger man is sweating and looking only a few breaths
away from dying.
SON: Please, close the door dad. It feels cold.
The old man closes the door and we get an impression of the
surrounding outside. Evening is falling in. There also seems
to be a silhouette of a man on a horse in the distance but the
old man can’t be sure, shakes his head in disbelieve, closes
the door and walks back to the sickbed.
OLD MAN: There’s a storm coming up, but don’t
let it interrupt our story. Where were we?
SON: There’s a man on a black horse outside
and he is carrying a scyte
OLD MAN: Ah yes, the legend of Sunny Hill
SON: No, I mean there is really a man on a
black horse and he is round the house already…
OLD MAN: Nah, don’t let the wind outside make your
imagination run wild, son (a silhouette of a hooded man
with a scyte is seen walking pass the window out of
sight of the old man). Let me continue the story. It’s a
scary story tough, you think you can take it? Or
perhaps another sip of water first?
SON: No dad, tel mel… It’s okay… I am ready now…
The door again opens because of the wind and the
old man walks to door to close it again.
OLD MAN: (takes another sip of his bottle) Okay then,
there you go, now… once upon… a time
The music of DEATH IS RIDING sets in. Rest of
the scene is the story told with the song’s lyric.
[IDEA CLIP: There’s a fade into the next scene with
the ticking of a giant clock like a countdown and
a quick zoom to outside the door and the open fields
where Death is already riding his black horse.
This is perhaps best as some sort of surreal movie
scene. The day turns into night and the sand turns
to snow, says the lyric. The clouds race across the
sky and so on. Spooky.
The scene shows shots of Death galloping to a town
named Sunny Hill. It is dark when he slows down
and rides into town where everybody has gone into
hiding, all doors and windows closed.
What follows is the sheriff making him stop and
challenging Death. There is a gun fight and at the
end of a rain of bullets … Death is dead.]
The scene ends with a last hammer on a wooden cross and
a fresh grave hidden out of sight on a hill. We can read
the words “DEATH”. Then there is a troop of celebrating and
joyfull people singing and dancing while going downhill again.
They just buried Death himself and their lives will now be all
happy days until the end of times. The parade ends in the
saloon where a band is playing the last part of the song and
the party continues untill the end of the song.
End of song is not the end of the scene tough. It is the same
saloon as IT’S HARD BEING HORSE and we see the same
cowboy sitting in this saloon after the party the night before.
He is almost ready to leave again. The man behind the bar is
just doing his barman things and they have a short conversation
BARMAN: I see you are leaving again. Any particular
place you’re goin’?
COWBOY: No, just west, always just west. You can tell
me anything what’s behind these hills up there?
BARMAN: I wouldn’t go there if I were you. It’s indian
territory.
COWBOY: Well, obviously you are not me, seems like
west to me those hills, so that way I will go
BARMAN: Yes, it’s west for sure. Hey, it’s your life cowboy,
a man gotta do what a man gotta do, ain’t it?
COWBOY: And so it is, my friend. So it is.
I bid you farwell, my horse is waiting
BARMAN: Keep safe, cowboy, just follow the trails
and you’ll stay out of danger
COWBOY: (walks out of saloon) We will see, my friend,
we will see…