GEOFFREY HOLLAND
A Short Story Adaptation of the Screenplay by Geoffrey Holland
On a chilly evening, as snowflakes gently drift down, Ed and Anna Moss are asleep in their quaint country home in rural Minnesota, their hearts heavy with grief. Just weeks earlier, they had lost their only child, a daughter, to a sudden illness. But that night, an otherworldly glow illuminates their bedroom window, awakening them. A baby’s cry echoes through the night. Rushing down to their front door, Ed and Anna find a mixed-race infant wrapped in a blanket, bathed in a warm, vertical beam of light. The girl child has a very distinct birthmark on her neck, shaped like a mighty oak tree. With love in their hearts, Ed and Anna are awarded custody of the infant. They love her as their own, naming her Erika. As a child, she learns to take pride in her birthmark, and asks to be called T.G., which is short for ‘Tree Girl’. T.G. grows into a strong, compassionate young woman; a schoolteacher loved by her students. T.G. works as a Peace Corps teacher in the African nation of Senegal. While there, T.G. sees firsthand the damage done by a giant mineral mining operation owned and operated by Clutek, a massive American hi-tech company. After two years in Africa, T.G. returns to Minnesota to teach and coach the girls’ track team at a high school not far from her parents’ country home.
A Road Accident Changes T.G.’s Life
As the world around her becomes more uncertain, so does the mystery of T.G.’s origins. A fateful accident leads inadvertently to the discovery of her unique DNA. It was unlike anything ever found on Earth. The tabloid media pick up the story and sensationalize it, labeling T.G. an alien. Overnight, she finds herself at the center of a global storm of speculation. To protect her students from the controversy, T.G. is suspended from her teaching job.
T.G. retreats to her parents' rural home, where she is trapped by the media demanding answers about her mysterious body chemistry. T.G. decides to use her moment in the media spotlight to call attention to the Clutek corporation’s deeply destructive mining operation in Senegal.
In response, Jerry Cluett, the CEO of Clutek, comes to Minnesota and meets with T.G. at her parents’ home. Cluett offers T.G. ten million dollars for the rights to exploit and profit from her mysterious body chemistry. In return for T.G.’s cooperation, Cluett also suggests he might be willing to clean up the mining operation in Senegal. While mulling over Cluett’s offer, T. G. finds herself facing another totally unexpected turn.
The Giant Oak Tree at Lupine Creek, Montana
A ranch turned wild land for bison near Flathead Lake is the home of a mixed-race group of couples, whose lives revolve around a magnificent oak tree that looks exactly like T.G.’s birthmark. When the media stories that speculate on T.G. being an ‘Alien’ appear, the people here sense a strong connection to her. The people are called ‘Melonites’ because of the abundance of fruits and vegetables they grow..
In her parents’ home in Minnesota, T.G. has isolated herself from the media attention. Then, one day, she senses a presence in her mind that she does not understand. T.G. is drawn to an older couple standing outside on the rural road in front of her parents’ home. The two strangers are Native American elder Floyd Many Horses and Diane Burris. They are the leaders of the Melonite community at Lupine Creek in Montana.
T.G. Makes a Fateful Decision.
She flees through a cornfield to another rural road some distance from her parents’ home. There T.G. meets up with Diane and Floyd. She senses a fateful, life-changing connection with them. A half-day later, T.G. arrives at Lupine Creek ranch with Diane and Floyd. She is stunned when she sees the majestic oak tree at the center of the Lupine Creek community. The massive tree’s profile is identical to the birthmark on T.G.’s neck. She learns that all the people living at the ranch share the same mysterious ability to communicate telepathically. T.G. feels an unshakable bond with these people and with the great tree at the center of their lives. T.G. is further enchanted by the joyful, close relationship Floyd has with a family of squirrels living in the magnificent oak tree.
A short time after arriving in Montana, T.G. learns that Jerry Cluett’s Clutek mine in Senegal has increased its production and also the toxic water pollution it creates. T.G. believes it is a provocation from Jerry Cluett to get her to agree to sell the rights to her mysterious DNA to Clutek. T.G. thinks about confronting Jerry Cluett in the most impactful way.
Clutek’s Mining Machines
The next day, the world witnesses an extraordinary event: Clutek’s giant mining machines, responsible for polluting Senegalese waterways, vanish mysteriously from the mining site—only to reappear outside the Clutek corporation’s headquarters in Atlanta. This ‘bigger than life’ event is linked by the media hysteria to T.G. As the news media speculate wildly, the government watches T.G. surreptitiously, and the American President grows increasingly concerned.
The Final Confrontation
The President directs the U.S. military to take control of the Lupine Creek Ranch. As armed helicopters approach, the great oak tree at the ranch spawns a radiant energy shield, protecting T.G. and her friends, who are huddled close to the tree. The family of squirrels living in the tree skitter down its massive trunk and seek refuge in Floyd’s jacket pockets and under his hat. The military assault force starts firing rockets at the tree. The radiant shield absorbs the rocket explosions, allowing no harm to T.G. and her Melonite friends. One of the helicopters is struck by flying debris from the attack. The crippled copter loses its rotor and plunges toward the ground. Instantly, the tree’s radiant shield extends. It catches the damaged copter and gently lowers it to the ground. The President, via the military force’s live video feed, witnesses the tree’s life-saving behavior. He halts the military assault.
T.G. Moss and the Power She Represents
The entire world’s electronic and social media are tuned to the events at Lupine Creek ranch. T.G. knows she has the world’s attention. Her message for this culturally pivotal moment is clear. She declares to the world, "We humans must stand together with common purpose. We must all choose to be planetary stewards. We must commit to care for this Earth we all call home."
A new era begins that day, one of unity, cross-cultural cooperation, and hope. T.G. Moss finally understands her life purpose—not as an alien, but as a human being; a cultural leader and a guardian of our living Earth’s future. The word ENTELECHY is defined as the ‘Realization of Full Potential’. A symbol of entelechy, of hope and possibility, that is what T.G. Moss becomes for all the people on planet Earth.