THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

by Andrew Williamson

5-Page Comic Script for “MILLARWORLD ANNUAL 2017”

Revised 30/11/2016

CHARACTER NOTES

HUCK:                                   As seen in Huck #1.

MRS TAYLOR:                   As seen in Huck #1.

LITTLE JIMMY:                 Five-year-old boy: small, quiet, curious, and with a lollipop in his mouth, permanently.

JIMMY’S MOM:                  Late twenties, skinny, ill-looking (sunken eyes, etc.).

ART NOTES

None.

PAGE ONE – FOUR PANELS

PANEL ONE

Huck’s journal top of the page:

“GOOD DEEDS FOR THE WEEK:”.

NO DIALOGUE       

.

PANEL TWO

Evening. Close in on HUCK’s arms and huge shovel as he clears swathes of deep snow in a flurry (arms and shovel are a blur; they seem to be in several places at once).

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL THREE

Huck stands back with his shovel held like a staff as he admires a row of residential driveways clear of snow, which is knee deep everywhere else. It must have been a helluva blizzard.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL FOUR

Huck’s journal:

“FRIDAY (2 DAYS TO GO)

CLEARED SNOW FROM THE NEIGHBORS’ DRIVEWAYS”.

NO DIALOGUE       

PAGE TWO – FIVE PANELS

PANEL ONE

Morning. MRS. TAYLOR knocks on Huck’s front door. She has LITTLE JIMMY with her, both are wrapped up against the cold. The snow is still piled up high.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL TWO

Interior. Huck has opened the door, and sees Mrs. Taylor and Little Jimmy standing on his doorstep.

1. MRS TAYLOR:     HUCK, I WANT YOU TO MEET LITTLE JIMMY. HIS MOM’S GONNA BE IN HOSPITAL ALL OVER CHRISTMAS.

(LINK):                       SEEING HOW YOU’VE GOT THE DAY OFF, I THOUGHT HE COULD SPEND A LITTLE TIME WITH YOU, INSTEAD OF AN OL’ LADY.

PANEL THREE

Huck stoops to shake hands with Little Jimmy – Jimmy’s hand can barely wrap around one of Huck’s fingers. Mrs. Taylor is already at the bottom of the driveway, waving.

2. HUCK:                   PLEASED TO MEET YOU LITTLE JIMMY.

3. MRS TAYLOR:     I’LL PICK HIM UP AT SIX, FROM OUTSIDE THE CHURCH.

PANEL FOUR

Huck’s sitting on his living-room sofa, and Huck’s dog, Mickey, is standing next to him. They’re both watching Little Jimmy sitting in the middle of a rug on the floor with one of Huck’s model ships in front of him. He’s not interested in it.

4. JIMMY:                  DONCHA EVEN HAVE A CHRISTMAS TREE, MISTAH?

PANEL FIVE

Huck has left the room in a blur, leaving Mickey’s fur and any other lightweight objects fluttering from the ‘whoosh’ of Huck’s exit. Little Jimmy is wide-eyed.

NO DIALOGUE       

PAGE THREE – FIVE PANELS

PANEL ONE

Same scene as previous panel, except Huck is standing there holding a pile of warm clothes, Little Jimmy’s car seat, some bungee elastics with hooks, and a giant ax.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL TWO

Huck is running at incredible speed through the snowy countryside with his ax in one hand. Little Jimmy is strapped in his car seat, which is attached to Huck’s chest by the bungee hooks. Little Jimmy, facing forward, is wide-eyed.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL THREE

Huck is crouching on the roof of a train, that’s approaching a tunnel, with Jimmy still strapped to him.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL FOUR

Close in. In the tunnel, everything is pitch black, except Little Jimmy’s bright, wide-open eyes – really wide-open.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL FIVE

Huck is taking big old swings at a big old fir tree with his big old ax, and big old chips are flying off. Little Jimmy is parked on the snow, next to a snowman, in his car seat, staring at Huck, along with a couple of deer and a few rabbits, also watching Huck.

NO DIALOGUE       

PAGE FOUR – FIVE PANELS

PANEL ONE

Heading back home, Huck and Little Jimmy are crouching on top of the train, along with a 150-foot fir tree, approaching a tunnel.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL TWO

Close in. In the tunnel, everything is pitch black, except Little Jimmy’s bright, smiley eyes – really smiley.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL THREE

Heading back home, Huck and Little Jimmy are running through the snowy countryside – Huck hauling the immense fir tree on his shoulder.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL FOUR

In the church grounds, Huck slams the fir tree trunk deep into the ground with a “THOOM”. The clock shows one minute before six o’clock. Mrs, Taylor is walking into the church grounds.

NO DIALOGUE       

PANEL FIVE

Huck’s journal entry:

“SATURDAY (1 DAY TO GO)

GOT THE TOWN A CHRISTMAS TREE”.

PAGE FIVE – FOUR PANELS

PANEL ONE

A close-up of a stick-man drawing Jimmy has made depicting the events of yesterday’s adventure.

1. CAPTION:             THEN WE CHOPPED THE TREE DOWN.

                       

2. CAPTION:             AND THEN WE JUMPED ON THE TRAIN AGAIN, BUT NOW WE HAD A TREE TOO.

PANEL TWO

The hospital room of Little Jimmy’s mom, lightly decorated with Christmas trimmings. Mom is propped up in bed, with Little Jimmy sitting on the bed, showing his mom the drawing. Mrs. Taylor and Huck are standing at the bedside, watching.

                       

3. JIMMY:                  AND THEN WE SLAMMED THE TREE INTO THE GROUND. I WANNA BE LIKE HUCK.

4. MOM:                     WOW, JIMMY. THAT’S SOME ADVENTURE.

PANEL THREE

Mom’s holding one of Huck’s giant hands in both of hers. Mom and Huck have a tears rolling down their cheeks.

5. MOM:                     I DON’T WHAT YOU REALLY DID, BUT I’VE NEVER HEARD HIM THIS EXCITED SINCE BEFORE HIS DADDY DIED.

(LINK):                       THANKS TO THE DOCTORS AND YOU, THIS HAS BEEN A MORE WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS THAN I COULD EVER HAVE IMAGINED.

PANEL FOUR

Huck’s journal entry:

“SUNDAY (0 DAYS TO GO)”.

Underneath, in Little Jimmy’s handwriting:

“DRAWD MOM A NISE PIKCHA”.

END