The Choice

NOTE: This is only a rough outline to give a basic explanation of the story. A complete script is currently being written.

As a family makes it's way up to a cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a weekend getaway, the father realizes that the car is losing power and the lights are beginning to dim due to a faulty alternator. When he notices this he stops the car for a moment to consider the options. He realizes that they are a bit farther than the half way point between the last main road and the cabin where they are heading. They can turn around and try to get back to the main road and wait for a car to pass by or they can proceed to the safety of the cabin. They are a bit closer to the cabin so they decide to proceed on; even though the cabin is still at least an hour away. To add to the dilemma, an unexpected snow storm also begins to move in. From using the lights and heater it does not take long for the battery to run out causing the car to stall on the side of the road. They are a days walk from the nearest town and it would be at least an 8 hour walk through the freezing snow to reach the main road were they might find a passing car and a 5-6 hour walk to reach the cabin.

The snow is coming down and the temperature is below zero with a cruel wind chill factor. There is enough food in the car to keep the family alive. That is not the problem. The issue is the extreme cold. Without heat they will freeze to death very quickly. All they have is their coats, gloves, and one light blanket. They have no phone signal and with the car’s battery totally dead there is no way to recharge a nearly dead phone anyway. The road they are on is so remote that it is unlikely that anyone would come down the road for days especially since there is a bad snow storm moving in. They find themselves in a very dire predicament. The father goes through the few options they have. He first thinks that they could build a fire outside. But it is wet, windy, and they do not have matches or a lighter. Besides this, they would also lose the little bit of warmth they have, very quickly, once they exit the car. This option will not work. Of course there is no way to use the phone so that option will not work. They could try to walk to the cabin but they may freeze to death; especially the children. So that will not work. Or they could try to stay and wait it out a few days in hopes that someone would arrive. But then they run a serious risk of freezing. The father, well aware that he will probably die from exposure, decides to walk hours through the snow and freezing temperatures to the main road in hopes of finding help. In reality it is the only chance they have to live. After a few final moments with his family, realizing that he will probably never see them again, but making light of things and having an optimistic attitude, he prepares to exit the car. Just before, he nonchalantly takes a pen and a piece of paper and puts them in his pocket and try’s to distract his family so they are not aware of him doing it. He realizes that he may need to write a note and attach it to himself so that if he is found dead, those who find him will know how to find his family. He kisses his wife and children good bye. He quickly exits the car and begins the walk.

As he walks he begins to get cold and as the miles drag on he gradually begins to struggle. His feet become totally frozen which makes it nearly impossible to walk. At times he, limps, slips and stumbles due to the pain and slippery ground. His hands remain relatively warm by keeping them inside of his shirt. After a long and painful journey he miraculously reaches the main, yet still rather remote road with only a few moments of day light to spare. By the time he arrives he is in bad shape. He is so cold and shaking all over. He is wet, thoroughly exhausted, and hungry. He realizes that he can’t go on any longer; especially with the night time quickly approaching. So he gathers some limbs and rocks and puts them into the road to block it so that if a car passes they will have to stop. This he hopes will cause a passerby to see him. Once he is done with this he then sits down on the side of the road and leans against a tree. He pulls out the piece of paper and the pen that he took from the car and writes a note that explains where his family is for whom ever may find him. Then on the other side he writes a note to his wife and children. As he writes he begins to think of the life he had with his family. We see images the memories of him and his wife together enjoying their lives inter cut with him writing, smiling, crying, shaking, etc. This is the climax of the movie. There is a trucking shot away from him dissolved into a slow zoom out to end the scene showing his location in the midst of the vast frigid forest. Then a fade to black. (We actually do not see him die. But we know he will die, being that the night is coming and there is no way he could survive all night.)

The following morning a passerby pulls up and sees the limbs and rocks on the road. He stops, and then gets out of his truck and scratches his head with confusion as to why the rocks and limbs are in the road. He shakes it off and begins to move the things to clear the way. He soon discovers the man dead over by the tree. He finds the note and reads it. Then he goes to the truck, drives to a phone and calls 911 to report the incident. Fade to black.