THE UNBELIEVABLE RUTH #8
Adventure. Fantasy. Weird Science. Coming-of-age. Whatever.
In a search for lost shoes, RUTH ŽUKAUSKAS transports her cousin CAMILLE to a strange new world filled with lost things. Unfortunately, the girls never locate the lost shoes. But they do encounter a disembodied head that talks and a huge, snorting DINOSAUR...PAGE ONE
EXT. THE LAND OF LOST THINGS
Panel 1: Camille talks to the reader.
CAMILLE (ASIDE): A park ranger told my class what to do when face-to-face with a wild animal. (beat) You hold your ground. Or slowly walk away. (beat) Never run. You don’t want to encourage a chase.
Panel 2: The girls stare into a monstrous dinosaur’s open mouth. Horrified by its terrible teeth. Its quivering uvula.
CAMILLE (to Ruth): Is that — ?
RUTH: Looks like it.
PAGE TWO & THREE
SPREAD: Frightened cousins cling to each other with a one-finger handhold.
GERALD, 16, is perched on the dinosaur’s neck. He wears a private school uniform -— navy blazer with a crest on the pocket, a striped tie, shorts, knee socks, and b/w saddle oxfords. He’s also got a gnarly unicorn horn in the center of his forehead.
GERALD: We meet again.
RUTH: Gerald. I should have known.
CAMILLE: Who?
PAGE FOUR
Panel 1: Camille darts her eyes toward Ruth, jerks her hand away. Ruth is angrily staring up at Gerald.
Panel 2: Gerald stares back at Ruth. A bead of sweat hangs on his horn.
Panel 3: Camille talks to the reader.
CAMILLE (ASIDE): A staring contest. Really? Now? (beat) Unbelievable.
PAGE FIVE
Panel 1: Camille elbows Ruth, but Ruth never breaks her stare.
CAMILLE: I guess you know this guy.
Panel 2: CU of Ruth. A crazed look in her eyes.
RUTH: He’s my arch-nemesis.
Panel 3: CU of Gerald. A crazed look in his eyes.
GERALD: I know why you’re here.
Panel 4: CU of Camille. She looks confused.
CAMILLE: Arch what?
PAGE SIX
Panel 1: Gerald is having trouble holding his stare.
GERALD: We’re both searching for the same thing -- the most valuable, most desirable object in all the universes.
Panel 2: Camille nudges Ruth again.
CAMILLE: Is he talking about my shoes?
Panel 3: Gerald blinks.
GERALD: Urgh.
Panel 4: Gerald growls.
GERALD: If you found it, hand it over. Now.
Panel 5: Ruth smirks.
PAGE SEVEN
Panel 1: Gerald glares at the girls, pats the Apatosaurus’s head.
GERALD: Hmmm. So that’s how it is. (beat) I see you have a sidekick now.
Panel 2: The dinosaur lowers its neck so Gerald can get a better look at Camille.
GERALD: What up, flunky?
Panel 3: Gerald glares at Camille and cackles.
GERALD: --Hahahahahahahahah!-- Am I invading your personal space?
Panel 4: Camille talks to the reader.
CAMILLE (ASIDE): Last time I heard a laugh like that it came from a cartoon witch.
PAGE EIGHT
Panel 1: Gerald smacks the Apatosaurus.
Panel 2: The dinosaur raises a massive leg.
GERALD: This might be a good time for you to give me what I want.
Panel 3: Ruth covers her mouth, whispers to Camille.
RUTH: I live by three rules. Number one: Have fun to the fullest extent of the law. (beat) Number two: Things are never as bad as they seem –— unless, of course, they are. (beat) Number three: When a thought-to-be extinct lizard is about to crush you...
PAGE NINE
Panel 1: The dinosaur’s foot comes crashing down. THOOOMM! Both girls spring up in the air
Panel 2: The girls drop to the ground. Hard.
Panel 3: Camille and Ruth, on all fours, stare down into the crater where the dinosaur stomped. It’s deep.
CAMILLE: What was that about lizards?
RUTH: Ruuuun!
Panel 4: With a handful of Camille’s shirt, Ruth drags her cousin away.
RUTH: Don’t look back. Just run.
PAGE TEN
Panel 1: Camille looks back.
Panel 2: The Apatosaurus pushes up on its hind legs. Gerald waves an arm above his head rodeo-style.
GERALD: Yippie-ki-yi-yeah!
PAGE ELEVEN
Panel 1: The dinosaur leaps in the air.
Panel 2: The impact when the dinosaur lands is explosive. KA–THOOOMM! The cousins are launched upward again.
Panel 3: The girls hit ground HARD. Again.
PAGE TWELVE
Panel 1: Ruth looks over at Camille.
RUTH: Knees okay? You can run, right?
Panel 2: Camille jumps up. Surprising Ruth.
Panel 3: Camille takes off like a rocket. Leaving Ruth.
RUTH: Guess so.
PAGE THIRTEEN
Panel 1: Ruth and Camille run through a valley of abandoned shopping carts.
Panel 2: Through a maze of shipwrecks.
Panel 3: Past stacks of old arcade machines.
NOTE: Don’t forget to toss in stray pets and extinct animals.
PAGE FOURTEEN
Panel 1: The girls reach the edge of a steep cliff.
CAMILLE: What now?
Panel 2: Ruth gives Camille a hard look.
RUTH: Ever wonder where fat goes when people lose weight?
PAGE FIFTEEN
FULL PAGE: Camille peers over the edge of the cliff. Below, there’s a roiling, gelatinous ravine.
CAMILLE: Gah! You’re telling me that gloppy yellow stuff is fat? (beat) Really?
PAGE SIXTEEN
Panel 1: Ruth shows Camille images on her phone.
RUTH: It’s also a portal. I’m telling you, they’re everywhere.
Panel 2: ON PHONE - “PORTAL” SELFIE - Ruth flashes “horns” hand gesture as she opens a standing door in the middle of a forest.
Panel 3: ON PHONE - “PORTAL” SELFIE - Ruth’s head emerges from a mirror. Her tongue sticking out.
PAGE SEVENTEEN
Panel 1: ON PHONE - “PORTAL” SELFIE - A huge dog drives a convertible through a tollbooth. Ruth rides shotgun.
Panel 2: ON PHONE - “PORTAL” SELFIE - One side of Ruth’s wideeyed, up-side-down face. In the background, a cow swept up in a tornado.
Panel 3: ON PHONE - “PORTAL” SELFIE - Ruth, covered in snow, steps out of an armoire into a bedroom. There’s a winter scene inside the armoire.
PAGE EIGHTEEN
Panel 1: Ruth SNAPS a photo of her shoes perched over the edge of the cliff.
Panel 2: Ruth fastens the chinstraps on her trapper hat.
RUTH: With luck, this portal will take us pretty close to your neighborhood.
CAMILLE: No way.
Panel 3: Ruth turns to Camille.
RUTH: Showtime.
PAGE NINETEEN
Panel 1: RRUUMMBBLEEBUMPLERUMBL! A billowy cloud of dust appears in the distance.
Panel 2: The pale outline of the Apatosaurus breaks through the cloud.
Panel 3: Ruth bends her knees. Camille looks squeamish.
RUTH: Showtime. That means jump.
CAMILLE: Okay, but... gross.
Panel 4: Camille holds her nose.
PAGE TWENTY
Panel 1: Ruth gently nudges Camille.
CAMILLE: Stop pushing —
Panel 2: Ruth shoves Camille off the cliff.
Panel 3: Camille hits the ravine with a SPLOOSH! Ruth jumps in behind her.
THE UNBELIEVABLE RUTH © Mark Ricketts
ART FOR THE UNBELIEVABLE RUTH © Shane White