Pierce,+Thomas

Thomas Pierce (Camera goes to a sky image of a huge mushroom cloud, then to the ground showing people coughing, dying, buildings collapsing. Switches to picture of a teenage Japanese boy sleeping fitfully, sweating, eyes clenched shut. Back to pictures of a big plane dropping a bomb. Right as the bomb explodes, the boy wakes up. He sits up on his cot and rubs his eyes. Camera swings behind him, giving view of room. The room is extremely small, looks more like a hut. There is another small cot over by the door where a young Japanese girl sleeps, holding a teddy bear. Camera swings to the side, where another Japanese boy sleeps on a thin blanket on the dirt floor. The only other piece of furniture in the room is a table, where there are a couple dirty, chipped clay bowls. The teenage boy gets up and walks over to the door, opens it, and looks out. Camera still behind him, shows a collection of other huts like the one the boy is in. Behind that you can see tall buildings rise, and hear the sounds of a city waking up. The boy closes the door and walks back in. He bends down and shakes the boy on the floor, then the girl) “Amaya, Haru wake up. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.” Amaya, the girl immediately gets up and changes, ready to go. The young boy, Haru, groans first and slowly sits up.  “C’mon, Akio. Can’t we just have Amaya steal some food again? I hate going to the soup kitchen. Everyone looks at me like dirt, and the food is terrible.” camera stays on Haru as Akio says:) “No. If she gets caught, they’re gonna wonder where our parents are and when they find out we don’t have any, they’re gonna send us to some dirty orphanage.” (camera shows Haru’s face turn into a groan, and he slowly gets up and gets dressed. Camera switches to outside the hut; the kids coming out the door as Haru continues to complain. It follows them as they walk out of the collection of huts and onto the city street. Cut to kids walking into a building, cuts to sign on building that reads HIROSHIMA SOUP KITCHEN. Camera switches to view of old ladies in hair nets behind a counter, dishing out bowls of gross looking slop to people in rags and covered in dirt. It stays on them as the tree kids come into view and get their food.) Haru: This is disgusting. I want another one of those pies that Amaya stole last week. Akio: Well we’ll already here. We might as well eat here. (camera follows them as they take their food and sit down. Zooms in on Haru’s face, then switches to behind his head and focuses on a man looking at Haru.) Haru (whining):There’s some guy looking at me. Akio: Oh shut up, will you? (camera switches to Amaya just sitting there calmly eating her food. All of a sudden there’s a very loud alarm, almost sounding like a boat’s fog horn. Camera shows immediate panic. Everyone gets up and runs towards the back of the big room where a worker had opened up a door in the floor. Camera goes back to Akio, Amaya and Haru, who are running towards the door in the floor. Haru is crying uncontrollably. There is a worried expression on Akio’s face as he holds the hands of Haru and Amaya. Amaya looks as calm as ever.) Haru (screaming): We’re gonna die! (camera shows Haru criying even harder and louder as he trips and scrapes his knee on the stairs.) Akio (screaming): Come on!!! (camera shows Akio practically dragging Haru down the stairs.) (Camera stays on door until it slams shut, stays for a few seconds, then cuts to complete black. Stays like that for a few seconds, then cut to a lit candle which illuminates the face of Akio holding the candle and Haru and Amaya on either side of him. Another alarm sounds, lower in pitch then the first) Akio :Well that was some air raid Amaya: It’s not over. (camera shows Amaya’s face staring off into space.) Akio: The end alarm just sounded. Amaya: Well they’re wrong. Akio: Whatever. (camera shows Akio getting up and pushing Haru and Amaya ahead of them as they slowly file out of the bomb shelter.) (camera switches to view of them in what is obviously downtown; they are walking down a crowded street. All of a sudden, a low buzzing comes into the background, and slowly gets louder. Cut to kids faces as he looks up. Camera goes to Akio’s view, showing a big plane flying about a mile away. All of a sudden, the air raid alarm sounds again. C.O. on Amaya’s face) Amaya to Akio:I told you so. Akio (yelling): Let’s get out of here! (camera follows kids as they run down the sidewalk. There is an enormous boom and a flash of white light; camera goes completely white for a second, then shows city. Camera pans around downtown, it’s been destroyed: buildings are collapsed, paper is on fire. Camera swings around to show a huge mushroom cloud rising up about a mile away. Camera switches to view of where the bomb hit, showing people disintegrating into ash, people getting blown out of windows and thrown across the street, people with the patterns from their clothes burned into their skin. Switch back to kids running into train station and jumping on train.) Haru asking in general: Where are we going? Akio to Haru: I don’t know. Just be quiet. (Cut to Akio, lurches as train starts to move. Camera shot from the window, showing the city. It is almost flat, with nearly every building destroyed. After about five seconds showing this, a faint orange glow appears in the sky, growing brighter and brighter. As it brightens one could tell it’s fire, and it was swirling around like a tornado above where the bomb detonated. Camera goes back to Akio’s face of shock and terror. Camera switches to the same pictures as in the beginning during Akio’s dream: a sky image of a huge mushroom cloud, then to the ground showing people coughing, dying, buildings collapsing. People getting thrown out of buildings, their clothes catching on fire. A close up of flaming birds in the sky. A big plane dropping a bomb, then turning and flying away quickly. Camera goes back to view of kids in their seats. Akio has a big cut on his leg when he fell from the shock. Close up on Akio’s face. It starts to look pained, and he twists over and pulls down his shirt. The skin underneath is black and dead where the sewing from his clothing had been. Akio winces then puts his shirt back. The train stops. Akio and the children stand up. Camera follows them as they walk out into the train station. Camera shows station from between doors. Camera focuses in a sign that says Nagasaki train station. People are running around frantically, wondering what the huge mushroom cloud is off in the distance. Follows kids as they run up to a police officer.) “Please sir, could you tell us where we could get some shelter? We just came from Hiroshima. There was a bombing.” Says Amaya.  (camera goes to officer’s face, which is wide eyed.)  “A bombing?!?!?!? So that’s what that mushroom cloud is from? That must have been a huge bomb to have done that.”  “Yes, it was.” Says Akio with a hint of impatience in his voice. “ There was a big flash of white light, which burned the imprints from my clothing onto my skin.”  (as Akio says that camera goes to him pulling down shirt, showing officer the burns.)  “Yes, shelter, of course. Come with me.”  (camera stays put as they walk off. Switches to them eating with some other clearly poor people at a table in a dim, candlelit room. Switches to a man throwing a newspaper into a trashcan on the side. Switches back to Haru running over to the trash can and getting the newspaper.) “Hiroshima Victim to Massive Bombing by Americans,” Haru reads as he walks over to the table and hands it to Akio. Camera close up of the front page article, part of which reads: “At 8:15 am on August 6th, the city of Hiroshima was bombed by the Americans. The American president Harry Truman has announced:  V.O. Harry Truman: We are in possession of the most destructive explosive ever devised by man. A single one of our newly developed atomic bombs is actually the equivalent in explosive power to what 2,000 of our giant B-29s can carry on a single mission. This awful fact is one for you to ponder and we solemnly assure you it is grimly accurate. We have just begun to use this weapon against your homeland. If you still have any doubt, make inquiry as to what happened to Hiroshima when just one atomic bomb fell on that city. Harry Truman also said… the rest fades away as camera goes up to front of the newspaper which says August 9th, 1945.) “Well, we better be going to bed. I have to think about where we are going to go,” says Akio.  (camera follows kids as they walk into the bunkhouse and climb into bed, and focuses on Akio’s face as he slowly falls asleep. Camera switches to a dark sky, in which are two lights. When close up, shows another bomber plane with U.S. Airforce on the side, similar to the one that bombed Hiroshima. Switches into the plane cabin, where the pilot says 3,2,1, fire! Cut to outside the plane and shows the underbelly opening up and a huge bomb falling out, even bigger then the last. Right after that, switches to view of Akio suddenly awakening. The steady drone of and airplane sounds overhead, but this time much louder then in Hiroshima.) “My luck cannot be this bad,” Akio says to himself as he jumps out of bed.  (shows Akio pulling Amaya and Haru out of bed and pulling them outside. Camera slowly moves up with the kids eyes and shows the bomb hurtling down.) “OH SHI-.”  (Akio’s voice is cut off as the bomb explodes. Movie ends with the camera view a bright fire orange.)  The End