The Bird Roads: Act 2 Part 3 transcript
Transcript created: 3rd September 2026
Last updated: 3rd September 2026
[A beautiful lake. Rippling, gentle water, nothing like the crashing waves. Grass and trees susurring on the bank. Ducks and geese, far off.]
[Closer up - the wet snap of a sail in the wind, the creak of fibreglass on the water.]
FINN: TACKING!
NOOR: (Delighted as she clambers across the boat) The dinghy sloshing in the water as Finn and Noor move their weight. The rattling clink of steel wires and the mast.
FINN: (Smiling, tender) Give me a heading, Blackbird
NOOR: Do you need to ask?
FINN: Close to the wind it is
[A wrench as FINN pulls the rudder, a whoosh as the sail gets a belly full of wind, a rush of water as she shoots forward]
NOOR: (Excited, laughing) I don’t know how long I can hold this
[Rope rattling through a metal gear, holding the sail in place as Noor wrestles with it]
FINN: I thought you said you’d been lifting
NOOR: (Jokingly offended) It’s a long term project
[A sudden WHISH as the wind strengthens. The boat creaks, then crashes tipping over and capsizing into the water]
NOOR & FINN: [Yelps of laughter as they’re sent flying]
FINN: (Gasping for breath, treading water) Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait, no, the boat!
NOOR: Oh shit!
[We hear Noor and Finn splashing in the water, swimming]
NOOR: Now what, sailor?
FINN: (Out of breath) Not much of a sailor without a boat
NOOR: We can make do. [BEAT, she’s teasing them] There’s an island over there
FINN: Not sure I’d call that an island-
NOOR: (Interrupting) Race you!
[Sudden splashing as Noor tears away. Finn follows her]
FINN: Wait!
[The sound of Noor and Finn splashing through the water fades and the theme tune comes in, opening on the morse code melody before hitting the orchestral swell.]
FERAH AHMET: The Bird Roads. Act Two. Part Three.
[The music ends. We fade in on water lapping gently at a gravel shore. There’s a soft shimmering chorus of quiet insects in the late afternoon.]
[Noor comes crunching through the gravel towards us and sits down.]
NOOR: They might never find us
FINN: It’s a whole quarter-mile to shore
NOOR: Where’s this going, O’Shaugnessy?
FINN: Right now? I’d say solidly in the direction of a summer fl- [reacting to her expression] Oh...
NOOR: I can’t really stand being tied down. Heads too far in the clouds for that
FINN: (Pre-emptively disappointed) Oh...
NOOR: (As if they’ve not said anything) I’ve never met anyone I didn’t want to run away from.
[I don’t know what to do with this. You weren’t in any of my calculations. [BEAT] I don’t know how to do this.]
FINN: Who says there’s one way to do it?
NOOR: Who says there’s a way at all? I try to think past tomorrow and I just...can’t see it. All my life I’ve known what I wanted to do, where I wanted to be, who I wanted to be. And now, for the first time, I don’t.
FINN: I don’t think surprises have to be a bad thing.
NOOR: But I don’t want to live my life flying blindly into the dark.
FINN: You don’t have to
NOOR: How am I supposed to introduce you to my parents? You’re white. You’re Christian!
FINN: Lapsed, but yeah, ok. I never really pictured you for the big traditional wedding type.
NOOR: Honestly, I never thought it would come up
FINN: (Delighted, teasing) Noor Latif, is this how you ask me to marry you?
NOOR: (Nervous) Is this you saying no?
FINN: (Tender) No. It isn’t that
[They kiss. Shifting of gravel, rustling clothes. As they kiss, romantic music swells up around them, lingering on the moment.]
NOOR: [Hums into the kiss, pleased, then exhales]
[Slowly, the romantic music fades into the sound of heavy rain.]
[We’re in Finn’s flat. It’s a cramped, cosy space. The TV is on. There’s rain hitting the windows. The TV speaker is tinny and a little far away from us.]
TV NEWS ANCHOR: Authorities are advising all citizens to evacuate to your local evac centre and await further instructions
[Door slams open, clicks shut behind someone]
FINN: (Calling through, ten feet away) You heard anything from Aster?
NOOR: (Stressed) Nothing. All the fucking control centre cares about is the flooding. Apparently the guy they shot into space is bottom of the priority list.
[Whilst Noor is speaking, Finn turns off the TV. Then they walk through the flat to meet her.]
FINN: Breathe. [BEAT] He’s the smartest man either of us have ever met and he’s in orbit. He’s going to be ok.
NOOR: Not if there isn’t a command centre left to let him down
FINN: The odds of that are -
NOOR: (Interrupting) Don’t tell me it’s impossible. North America is underwater.
[Rain keeps hitting the windows. Outside, there’s the sound of distant thunder. There’s a long beat.]
FINN: So you’re doing it.
NOOR: You know I have to. We need every kind of emergency response we can get. And I’ve seen your go-bag under the bed.
[Tender music comes in.]
FINN: It’s a week where the world needs able sailors.
NOOR: You better come back to me, Finn O’Shaugnessy
[There’s a rustle of fabric as Finn grabs her]
FINN: You first
[They hug]
NOOR: [A little sound like she’s trying not to cry]
NOOR: Are we doing the right thing?
FINN: Easy. Is it what Aster would do?
[Beat.]
NOOR: I love you.
FINN: I love you too, Blackbird.
[The tender music stops. There’s a beat.]
FINN: Now go save the world.
[The morse code of the theme music comes in.]
CREDITS
[The theme music plays as Ferah speaks.]
FERAH AHMET: The Bird Roads Act Two, Part Three, was written and directed by Ella Watts, with music and sound design by Amber Devereux.
Noor was played by Ferah Ahmet and Finn was played by Spencer Mason. The newsreaders were played by Ross McFarlane and Emma Sherr-Ziarko.
Our dialogue editor, script editor and production manager is Ross McFarlane. This podcast is a Tin Can Audio production.
[The theme music swells for a final crescendo before fading out on the looping morse code melody.]
