Adaptation by:
Jokubas Uogintas
A Baby Tramp
by
Ambrose Bierce
PAGE ONE
PANEL LAYOUT: Two rows of three tall equal sized panels.
PANEL ONE: Rain Begins to fall. View is of the sky with a skyline of the roofs of buildings and the tip tops of trees is seen at the bottom.
CAPTION
(bottom right)
Blackburg...
PANEL TWO: CLOSE UP on the dark drops of rain on the face of Jo. Jo is a young tramp. They are black due to how dirty his face is. Behind his head one can see parts a of a name of a shop on a window.
PANEL THREE: Joseph (Jo) is seen from the waist up from a little further away, he fills the frame, but you can see a street shop window behind him over his shoulders. It is overcast, and he’s drenched in rainwater. Joseph is a young boy, younger than ten or twelve, who stands crooked, and dressed in dreadful rags. He is staring wide-eyed, blankly ahead of himself toward the reader.
CAPTION
(bottom middle)
Jo.
PANEL FOUR: Identical panel to the first, but instead of raining water it’s raining frogs.
CAPTION
(bottom right)
Ten or twelve years before...
PANEL FIVE: PAN DOWN close up to a frog on the window of the shop that was behind Jo. Jo is no longer there. The frog is plastered to the window with a newspaper resting behind the glass.
PANEL SIX: Full view of the newspaper in the window. The name of the newspaper is “The Contemporaneous Chronicler”. The headline reads “good growing-weather for Frenchmen”.
PAGE TWO
PANEL LAYOUT: Two rows of three tall equal sized panels.
PANEL ONE: Identical panel as Panel ONE on the first page, but instead of rainwater or frogs, it’s now snowing blood. The rooftops are red with blood-red snow, and the tree is bare of leaves because it is now wintertime.
CAPTION
(bottom right)
Some years later...
PANEL TWO: PAN DOWN to the shop in front of which Jo stood. The street corner in front of it is covered in red snow. The red snow has hoof and foot prints all over it. A newspaper can be seen in the window.
PANEL THREE: CLOSE UP of the newspaper. The newspaper’s headline reads “Scientific explanations flood Blackburg”. The windowsill is covered in red snow. Two figures can be seen from the back sitting inside at the bar.
PANEL FOUR: Two older men are seen from the back sitting on stools at a bar inside the shop. The men have some red snow on their shoulders and hats. The one on the right is drinking a glass of whiskey.
PANEL FIVE: The man on the right slams his glass of whiskey down on the table.
PANEL SIX: The man on the right turns to the one on the left, while the man on the left stares straight ahead.
Man on the right: “Something will come of it.”
PAGE THREE
PANEL LAYOUT: Two panels at the top, a wide panel in the middle and three more panels at the bottom.
PANEL ONE: The outside of a church in the summertime.
CAPTION
(bottom right)
Next summer...
PANEL TWO: Inside it has been converted into a large hospital, it is a cavernous space with a floor crowded with hospital beds a few privacy curtains. Physicians are running back and forth.
PANEL THREE: A physician is walking from the left to the right between two beds. Speech bubbles of various groans are scattered throughout the panel from various curtains.
Patients: “groan”, “cough”, “hack!”
PANEL FOUR: He grabs the clip board from the foot of the bed on the right.
Panel FIVE: CLOSE UP on the physicians face, he looks exhausted.
PANEL SIX: From the view of the physician, we can see the clip board at the bottom and the patient at the top. The patient is a beautiful woman with her eyes closed. The clipboard clearly reads “Hetty Parlow”.
PAGE FOUR - FIVE
PANEL LAYOUT: The spread is split into two wide panels.
PANEL ONE: The same woman in the hospital bed is seen from up above amongst many other hospital beds. The numerous hospital beds to either side of her are filled with her relatives of various ages, they are known as the Brownons. Her grandparents, her parents, brothers, and sisters are all there, sick, just like she is. Various tubes and IVs are attached to each bed. The male physician is standing next to Hetty’s bed holding a clipboard. A female nurse is fixing the grandmother’s pillow.
Caption
(middle)
The Brownons
PANEL TWO: In a similar arrangement as in the above panel the Brownons are standing in an old school family photo, looking a little bit younger. Everyone is dressed very high class. The men wear dark suits and have mustaches and beards that represent their high class. The women look like they have their own purpose too, looking as stately as possible. The older head of the family sits in a chair in front with the wife standing by the side of it with her arms on top of the backing. Hetty is seen far off to the right, fooling around with a man who is clearly from a different family, they easily stand out.
CAPTION
(middle)
(taken a while back, way before the wretched disease)
PAGE SIX
PANEL LAYOUT: Two panels at the top, a wide panel in the middle and three more panels at the bottom.
PANEL ONE: Hetty is seen with her man at a wedding standing facing each other at the altar.
CAPTION
(top left)
Hetty’s wedding..
PANEL TWO: The priest pronounces them man and wife.
priest: “I now pronounce you man and wife.”
PANEL THREE: A wide shot of a council hall. The old head of the family begrudgingly offers Hetty’s husband a seat at a town council meeting. He is seen standing up holding a glass in the air. Hetty’s husband is also standing up from behind a council chair looking sheepish. The head of the family offers up a toast. The other council members have their glasses as well.
Head of family: “To the new council member...”
PANEL FOUR: Hetty is shown in a bed at her home holding her child (Jo), with her husband near by.
PANEL FIVE: Hetty looks to her husband who is smoking a cigar.
PANEL SIX: A CLOSE UP of the baby in Hetty’s arms. Speech balloons come in from the left side.
Hetty: “Let’s name him Joseph” (above the image)
Husband: “Jo...” (below the image)
PAGE SEVEN
PANEL LAYOUT: Two rows of three tall equal sized panels.
PANEL ONE: CLOSE UP of Hetty’s face smiling in her bed at home.
PANEL TWO: SAME CLOSE UP of Hetty’s face content with her eyes closed.
PANEL THREE: PANEL of Hetty’s face expressionless on the bed at the hospital with her eyes closed.
PANEL FOUR: The male physician places the chart back on the holder at the foot of the bed.
PANEL FIVE: The male physician crosses his arms and speaks to himself. He is standing over Hetty’s bed. A female nurse joins in, and stands next to the physician.
Male Physician: “I guess that’s it for the Brownsons...”
Female Nurse: “hmm...”
PANEL SIX: The female nurse turns to the physician and responds.
FEMALE Nurse: “What about her son?”
PAGE EIGHT
PANEL LAYOUT: Two panels at the top, a wide panel in the middle and three more panels at the bottom.
PANEL ONE: A gravestone in the foreground among many others in the background. It’s nighttime. One gravestone legibly reads “Here lies Hetty Parlow”.
CAPTION
(top left)
A while later...
PANEL TWO: ZOOM OUT to view of more of the cemetery. It’s filled with trees. A sign near the entrance reads “Oak HIll Cemetery”.
PANEL THREE: A wide shot of a wagon driving by the sign and the cemetery and down a hill with a number of young people who had been attending a May Day festival at Greenton. They appear jubilant. The driver is mushing the horses.
PANEL FOUR: A CLOSE UP of the driver shocked with surprise. He grips the reins pulling them back to the side.
Driver: “Shit!”
PANEL FIVE: A zoomed out view with the driver continuing to try to halt the horses. One of the young people is looking over the back of the wagon, wondering what the driver saw.
PANEL SIX: A faint impression of a human form can be seen further along the path of the wagon, under an oak tree.
PAGE NINE
PANEL LAYOUT: Two rows of three tall equal sized panels.
PANEL ONE: ZOOM in on the form. The ghost of Hetty Parlow stands in the middle of the wagon’s path, under an Oak tree, with her arms stretched out towards the west. She looks ghostly, with long undone hair, and a ‘far-away look’ in her eyes. The moon is full and can be seen in the background.
PANEL TWO: ZOOM in further closer to her form showing more detail.
Driver: “Isn’t that Mrs. Hetty Parlow?”
PANEL THREE: ZOOM in even closer. She opens up her mouth.
Hetty’s ghost: “Joey, Joey!”
PANEL FOUR: The horses rear up, clearly freaked out by the apparition.
PANEL FIVE: The same Panel as the first yet without the ghost.
PANEL SIX: The same panel as the previous one but a leaf is falling down from the tree, and the moon has moved. The grass swayed in the breeze.
PAGE TEN
PANEL LAYOUT: Nine Panel Grid.
PANEL ONE: Joseph is seen dressed cleanly, walking away from a house in the scorching desert. A speech bubble comes out of the window of a house in the background.
House: “Have you seen Joey?”
CAPTION
(top left)
Near Winnemucca, in the State of Nevada
PANEL TWO: A shot slightly further above Joseph, showing how much further he walked away from the house. Several patches of sagebrush
separate him from his adoptive home.
House: “Not since breakfast”
PANEL THREE: An even more arial shot. Joseph is seen as a tiny figure. The home is nowhere in sight as Joseph continues to walk toward the east, past trees. More of the Desert geography is revealed.
PANEL FOUR: A Piute Indian holds his left hand on top of Josephs head in a train station. Joseph looks a little raggedy. The Piute Indian faces a woman with her back to an east bound train. The Piute indian is holding out his right hand, palm upwards.
CAPTION
(top left)
East, a long way from Winnemucca
PANEL FIVE: The woman hands the Piute Indian a stack of bills. The Piute Indian grasps the stack.
PANEL SIX: The boy starts walking towards the woman. The Woman ushers him up toward her, while stepping one foot into the train.
Woman: “Come here”
PANEL SEVEN: Joseph is walking towards the right out of rame. He is outside of a big house. The lady who bought from the Indian can be seen reading the paper in the window. Joseph looks cleaner now, with fresh new clothes.
CAPTION
(top left)
Further east, in Cleaveland, Ohio
PANEL EIGHT: Joey continues walking towards the right. The buildings behind him change. He seems to be walking with a purpose, but his expression is quite blank.
PANEL NINE: Again, in front of other buildings, Joseph is walking past a police officer who grabs him by the collar.
Police officer: “Come ‘ere you vagrant”
PAGE ELEVEN
PANEL LAYOUT: Two rows of three tall equal sized panels.
PANEL ONE: CLOSE UP of Joseph, similar image to the third panel on the first page. He looks incredibly raggedy, wet and cold. He’s staring blankly ahead. It’s raining. Raindrops are hitting the top of his head.
CAPTION
(top left)
Blackburg...
(bottom middle)
Jo.
PANEL TWO: ZOOMED OUT of Joseph’s face. You can see him standing on a street corner with water collecting in between the cobblestones. Joseph looks to the right.
PANEL THREE: Joseph walks off the sidewalk with his feet splashing carelessly into a big puddle.
PANEL FOUR: It is dark and Joseph is outside a house with light coming from the windows. Joseph is approaching the house from the left. There is a gate around the house.
PANEL FIVE: A dog leaps out and scares Joseph. Joseph is taken aback.
PANEL SIX: Joseph continues walking further down the road towards the right. The dog continues to bark at him from a distance, while pressed up against the fence. The door of the house is slightly ajar.
PAGE TWELVE
PANEL LAYOUT: Three smaller panels at the top inset in a big panel encompassing the rest of the page.
PANEL ONE: It continues to rain. Joseph looks tired is slowly walking towards the right on a path near a bigger fence with oak trees.
CAPTION
(top left)
Later...
PANEL TWO: Joseph continues walking slugishly, but a gate to the inside of the enclosure is now in view.
PANEL THREE: Joseph tiredly creaks open the gate. The sign to the right of the gate reads “Oak Hill Cemetery”.
PANEL FOUR: Joseph is seen sleeping/possibly dead, on top of a grave in front of a gravestone. He has one hand tucked away among his raggedy clothes. His head lay on top of his other hand. The rain has washed away the dirt from the cheek facing upwards. Many grave stones surround him. Oak trees can be seen in the distance. The grave stone above his head reads “Hetty Parlow”.