Run: 2026-02-24-01KJ8V11CTTM9VYBV3WAFZ3DQY

# Voice Sheet — "Lost in Translation" ### Setting: Birchwood Café, Main Street, Alborn, MN — Late Morning --- Hunter: "Excuse me, ma'am? Mind if I sit down for a moment?" Selvi: *(looking up from her camera, startled)* "Haan? Aap kaun hain?" *(Yes? Who are you?)* Hunter: "I'm Detective Hunter Brandt. I'm investigating some incidents in town. I noticed you've got a camera — you a photographer?" Selvi: *(clutching her camera closer, uneasy)* "Mujhe maaf kijiye, mujhe angrezi nahi aati." *(I'm sorry, I don't understand English.)* Hunter: "I'm sorry — do you... speak English?" Selvi: *(shaking her head slowly)* "Nahi... nahi. Angrezi nahi." *(No... no. No English.)* Hunter: "Okay. Alright. Uh... that's a wrinkle. You — were you here last night? Last... night?" Selvi: *(her expression darkening, recognizing perhaps his tone or the word "night"; she looks down at her camera and scrolls to a photo with trembling fingers, voice dropping)* "Kal raat... kal raat mujhe kuch dikha. Kuch bahut galat tha. Ek aadmi... woh jungle ki taraf gaya aur phir... phir who gayab ho gaya. Bas aise hi. Mujhe bahut darr laga." *(Last night... last night I saw something. Something was very wrong. A man... he went toward the woods and then... then he just disappeared. Just like that. I was so scared.)* Hunter: *(leaning forward, studying her face)* "You saw something. I can see it in your eyes. You're shaken up." Selvi: *(nodding vigorously, pointing toward the window facing the tree line)* "Wahan! Wahan jungle ke paas! Maine photo bhi liya!" *(There! Near the woods there! I even took a photo!)* Hunter: "The woods? You're pointing at the woods. Were you out by Henderson's orchard?" Selvi: *(turning her camera screen toward him, showing a blurry nighttime photo of a figure near the tree line)* "Yeh dekhiye — yeh aadmi. Yeh wahi hai. Aur phir... kuch nahi. Woh aise gayab hua jaise kabhi tha hi nahi." *(Look at this — this man. This is him. And then... nothing. He vanished like he was never there.)* Hunter: *(squinting at the photo, pulling out his notepad)* "That's — that's out past the fairgrounds. And that figure... Can I — may I see that closer? The photo?" Selvi: *(pulling the camera back protectively, conflicted)* "Mujhe nahi pata aap kya keh rahe hain. Kya aap police hain? Kya aap madad kar sakte hain?" *(I don't know what you're saying. Are you police? Can you help?)* Hunter: "I'm police. Detective." *(tapping his badge, showing it to her)* "Police. You're safe." Selvi: *(eyes widening with recognition at the badge, exhaling)* "Police... haan. Achha. Mujhe kisiko batana tha. Kal raat se neend nahi aayi mujhe." *(Police... yes. Good. I needed to tell someone. I haven't slept since last night.)* Hunter: "I wish I could understand you. I really do. You clearly know something — " Selvi: *(scrolling to another photo — an empty field where the figure had been, taken moments later)* "Aur yeh dekhiye. Yahan koi nahi hai. Kuch hi seconds baad. Koi nishaan nahi. Kuch nahi." *(And look at this. No one is here. Just seconds later. No trace. Nothing.)* Hunter: "Same spot. And he's just... gone. Just like the others." Selvi: *(voice barely a whisper, eyes welling)* "Is jagah mein kuch gadbad hai. Mujhe bahut darr lag raha hai." *(Something is wrong with this place. I am very frightened.)* Hunter: *(softly)* "I don't need to speak your language to understand that look. Something in this town has got you scared." *(A long silence. Hunter studies the photos. Selvi watches him hopefully.)* Selvi: "Kya aap samajh rahe hain? Kya aap kuch karenge?" *(Do you understand? Will you do something?)* Hunter: "I'm going to figure this out. Somehow. I just need to find someone who can translate — " *(Hunter's phone buzzes sharply. He glances at the screen. His jaw tightens.)* Hunter: "Brandt here. ...What? When? I'm on my way." Selvi: *(watching his face change)* "Kya hua? Sab theek hai?" *(What happened? Is everything okay?)* Hunter: *(standing abruptly, pulling a business card from his coat and placing it on the table in front of her)* "I have to go. But this — " *(tapping the card)* " — this is me. My number. Please don't delete those photos. Photos — " *(miming holding a camera)* " — keep them. Keep." Selvi: *(taking the card, nodding slowly)* "Aapka card... theek hai. Main photos nahi mitaungi. Lekin please... wapas aaiye." *(Your card... okay. I won't delete the photos. But please... come back.)* Hunter: *(pausing at the door, looking back at her — a woman sitting alone in a strange town, frightened, holding a camera full of secrets he can't yet unlock)* "I'll be back. Count on it." *(The bell above the café door chimes as he steps out into the gray Minnesota morning. Selvi watches him go, then looks down at the business card, then back at her camera screen — at the empty field where a man used to be.)* Selvi: *(quietly, to herself)* "Koi toh meri baat samjhega... koi toh samjhega." *(Someone will understand me... someone will.)* --- *End of scene.*