Greek Battle Cry

Synopsis:  This story/script is the brainchild of my adorable, handsome, dashing, debonair, beautiful, incredible love, TTR.   It centers on Atlas Lasko, a teenager who sees himself as a superhero.   He is overshadowed by his elder brother Thanasi and his younger brother Achilles.   His teacher, Alastor Giannopoulos, is overbearing, cruel, crude and demanding.   He only has one friend, Barnabus Hero, who sticks by his side and gives him encouragement.   He later meets his guidance counselor, Beatricia Chavez, who is slightly older than himself.  He develops a crush on her, seeing as she is the only member of the opposite sex that ever cared for him.  

~*~CAST~*~

Atlas Lasko: (middle child)

Thanasi Lasko:  (eldest brother)

Achilles Lasko: (baby brother)

Phoebe Lasko: (mother) 

Kadmus Lasko: (father) 

Alastor Giannopoulos: 

Barnabus Hero: (Atty’s one friend)

Beatricia Chavez: (guidance counselor)

Kaley Alexandros:  (has crush on Atlas) 

Scene 1—Shunned and Overlooked

            The script itself will be done in a series of actions and will only have two lines of spoken dialogue throughout its entirety.   I am going to prove that actions can tell a story just as well as dialogue can.  

            The tale begins with our characters, who will be depicted as they appear.  We have the hard working mother and father, Phoebe and Kadmus.   Kadmus is fairly wealthy in his job as a CEO of a very successful company.   Phoebe too, makes a tremendous living as the CEO of an IT company protecting private information.  They’ve come home before the children have arrived from their prospective schools.   Achilles is in college and is much like his father, but also a star athlete.    He got a full scholarship to the University of his choice to play soccer but someday hopes to step into his father’s shoes to be the next CEO of his international publishing and media company. The baby of the family, Thanasi, is a musical genius and seeks to become a performer in the Philharmonic someday.  Then there is middle child, Atlas.  Atlas is all but ignored as he returns from middle school.   All he wants to do is have some attention and recognition for the good grades he has made and the accolades he’s gotten.   He even has to serve himself dinner and all his brothers, mother and father can do is berate him when he’s done nothing wrong.  He’s always getting compared to Achilles and Thanasi.    He can never measure up.   Even after he has cleaned up his dishes and put them in the dishwasher, his parents don’t even notice he’s there.   Atlas retreats to his room and starts reading comic books.   We see a transition of him into an anime world where he is a superhero, defending the defenseless, rescuing those in need of help and saving a poor cat from a tree, giving it back to its owner.   There’s a call from Kadmus to come back out and away from his fanciful realm to take care of the trash.  He’s always subjugated to doing menial tasks.    They don’t even thank him.  He does so, without gall and without much emotion.   He excuses himself but they don’t hear him.  He heads to the nearest sweet shop, where the confectioner waits on him rather impatiently as he tries to make a decision.  All he can afford is the crappy penny candy but he buys it anyways.   The confectioner, annoyed, sends him away and Atlas sighs.   Then, along comes Barnabus, giving him a look as if to say, ‘What’s the matter ?’    He tells his good friend everything, including how rejected and insular his life is.  Barny puts an arm around him and pats his shoulder, letting him know everything will be alright.   They ride on their bikes and Atlas sees it as an adventure, going back into his immensely colorful anime world, where he sees himself and Barny riding along on motorcycles, looking unbelievably cool and bad assed.   They take a swim in the ocean and come back but it is nearly night.   Atlas comes home, of course, not even acknowledged by his parents.   He shrugs it off, scoffing lightly and throws himself into bed.   Only his pet black cat, Calliope, can give him any comfort now as he falls asleep. 

Scene 2—Another Hard Luck Day 

The next day, Atlas heads off to school while his brothers are showered with love and affection.  Atlas has to fend for himself and makes his own lunch.  His mom and dad don’t even bid him goodbye or safe travels on his journey.   He’s used to this by now and has become numb to it.  Oddly he still loves them, even if they don’t love him.  Barnabus is waiting for him on his bicycle.   ‘Come on !’, he mouths joyfully, gesturing to him to follow him.   Atlas’ grin grows ever wider as the two speed to school.   They both have a reverie of riding futuristic hover-bikes to a very incredible looking building.  The dream soon melts away and reality takes hold.   Everything seems to be going swimmingly until Atlas leaves for his own classes, separate from his best friend.   Yet, in the shadows, there is a sweet, demure girl Atlas’s own age named Kaley watching him from her locker, yet she never has the fortitude to speak to him.  She bustles off to her own class, and Atlas to his.   While there, Alastor makes Atlas’ life even more difficult for him, scolding him when he doesn’t answer correctly, even when he has the answer halfway correct.   Atlas tries not to cry in front of his classmates but they all ridicule him behind his back, thinking he needs remedial courses.   Alastor assigns him a guidance counselor, Beatricia, who is originally from Spain whom he thinks can help him grow and not stutter so much when he speaks.   Alastor doesn’t realize he is the problem, but Beatricia already is aware of this due to the times Atlas has been sent to the principal’s office for ‘correcting’ his teacher.   Immediately, Beatricia and Atlas form a friendship and he starts to have a crush on her, even though he doesn’t want to admit it.  It’s apparent in the way he looks and behaves around her.   For the first time in his life, he knows what unconditional love feels like. 

Scene 3—Voices Crying in the Wilderness

            As Beatricia gets to know Atlas better, she teaches him how to manage his unhindered anger, and she knows the root of his issue stems from his poor treatment and lack of acknowledgement (or in this case, parenting in general) from anyone in his family.   With her help, he becomes less angry and she begins to have a one on one with Alastor.   Alastor realizes over time, he has been wrong about Atlas and sees he is actually one of the smartest students in class.   He works hard and excels in everything, especially science but also has an eye for art.   Alastor’s relationship begins to change with Atlas over the sequence of time.  

            Beatricia teaches him more about handling bitterness and anger.  They go out into the vast forest and play with animals there, and the animals are very receptive.  Atlas recognizes Beatricia’s pure spirit and begins to realize he possesses the very same penchant with animals she has.   She comments to him that he has a new super power.  He begins to dream of being ‘Wild Man’, friend of all creatures, and tells her of how he will make this a popular serial someday as a side project to being a biologist.   She praises him and suggests they go to the beach for the weekend.  They would be going by themselves, but his whole class goes.   Kayle follows and tries to get closer to him and actually garners the courage to swim close to him and start splashing him in the water.   The jovial mood quickly turns grim when Atlas is stung by a jellyfish and it is nearly fatal.   Everyone is concerned, Barnabus, his classmate is driven to tears.   However, Barny maintains his composure and stays close to his side in the ambulance.  Beatricia rides along with him and Kayle tags along, even though it is coyly at first.  We realize a young romance is in bloom here.    Poor Atlas though, is at the brink of death.  His parents begin to realize how in the wrong they were and even start to feel pangs of regret.  His brothers begin to weep uncontrollably, and it’s not because they’re being scrutinized but because for once in a great while, they are truly worried about their brother’s well-being.   All along his recovery, Beatricia stays by his side and Kayle begins to overcome her demure nature by getting to know him better.   Soon, she finds that Atlas and she have much in common and they become friends.  

Scene 4—Return to Spain

As Atlas recouperates, Beatricia announces sadly that she will be leaving for her homeland to return to be with her family.  She had been enjoying a gap year in Greece, but now it is time to return home.   He’s not quite well enough to see her off, but using all of his strength, he escapes the confines of the hospital, finds his bike, unlocks it and speeds his way to the terminal where Beatricia is waiting for her flight back to Spain.  He pants, regathering his breath and calming down.   Beatricia is surprised he made it so far without collapsing, and almost scolds him.   Kayle has followed him on her bike and watches from a distance.  Barnabus tags along right behind her and maintains a steady rhythm, following him.   He sticks right to Atlas, never leaving his side.  Atlas tells Beatricia goodbye, eyes brimming with tears.  There’s a close-up shot of the emotion he is depicting and the closeness of their friendship.  He runs up to her, hugging her tightly.  She hugs him back immediately, stroking his hair soothingly. 

He says ‘Agapo, megali Adelphi.’ (or I love you big sis.)   She chuckles, tousling his hair, wipes his eyes dry of tears and he dries hers.   She pretends to knock him out with a punch to his jaw and they laugh.  Apparently, it’s an inside joke they have because not even Barnie or Kayle understand what’s going on.    Then Beatricia gives him another big hug, patting him on the back and says, ‘Te amo tambien, bebe.’ (or I love you too, baby.)    She pivots on her foot and heads into the sunset, her hair waving picturesquely in the wind.   Atlas dries his eyes and sees Barny there by his side.  His friend pats him reassuringly on the shoulder as if to say, ‘It’s gonna be alright, Atty.  You’ve still got your friends around and we’re gonna stick up for you and stay by your side.’  He looks behind him and the whole medical staff is looking worried, but impressed with his quick recovery.  They release him that same day.   Kayle, the cute girl who is growing ever bolder, comes even closer to him and holds his hand, squeezing it, letting him know that someone does indeed love him.   He blushes and squeezes her hand in return.  Newfound love has taken root and is beginning to blossom between them. 

Scene 5—Transformation in the Community

            Even though Beatricia is gone, her influence has not departed from the town.  Atlas is more respected and seen as a rather gifted student.   He is praised and even his family begins to acknowledge him more.  His brothers treat him as an equal and begin to see him really take off in his perspective fields of science and art.   Barnabus comes to talk him into surfing with him on the beach, and Kayle has come along with him, smiling the whole way.   She’s actually very loquacious and friendly around him, willing to surf alongside him as well.   Even though Beatricia is gone, her impact has created a butterfly effect.   Atlas realizes that she was the catalyst that he needed to transform his world.  All he needed was a small push to become the man he is today.   He knows he isn’t the best he could be, yet, but every day he strives to become better than he was the day before.   At the end, we see he and his friends surfing and he and his family getting along; everything’s tickety-boo.    At last, our unfortunate hero has an ebullient end and we feel a sense of hope and promise even as the uplifting atmosphere fades to classical Greek bouzouki music.   The beach, adolescents, adults, activities, everything is set to the roar of the waves, the caw and cry of the seagulls as it cuts to a shot of ‘The End’ written in a kind of Greek font.  

Epilogue

            Credits roll, deference and thanks are all possible due to my beautiful boyfriend’s idea for the initial idea for the script.  I just happened to piece the puzzle together to form a wonderful picture.   Thank you, mom and dad for bringing me into the world.  I thank my family before me.  I never knew you, but without you I wouldn’t be here.  Thank you TTR for believing in me and pushing me to be my best.   You are the only person alive other than my papa who truly ‘gets’ me.   God bless you.  My gratitude and love comes from the bottom of my heart.   To everyone else that inspired me, you have my love and thanks.   Bloopers are shown as well as behind the scenes glimpses.   A mention of no animals being harmed in this film is also made.   I am certain once this film is actually made, it’ll give people jobs and inspire them.  At least, that is my intent ! 

The End