Timothy McSweeney's Header Image

The annual Believer Visual Issue is here. Inside its pages, Norwegian "seed vault" artist Dyveke Sanne discusses her work, Sheila Heti talks with Frank Stella, and Lawrence Weschler revisits Hockney and Irwin. Also included: an 800-square-inch poster by Robyn O'Neil.

- - - -

EXCERPT FROM THE
UNFINISHED SCREENPLAY
YOU'RE A JAILBIRD,
CHARLIE BROWN
.

BY JEFF SUTTER

- - - -

INT. BOY'S BEDROOM—NIGHT

(Shadows dance across the room as CHARLIE BROWN, 8, sleeps comfortably in his bed. The door creaks open and a small figure, SALLY BROWN, 6, enters, moves toward her sleeping brother, and prods him awake.)

SALLY: (Frightened.) Big brother ... big brother, wake up. Oh, please, big brother, wake up.

CHARLIE: (Sleepily.) What? What time is it?

SALLY: Oh, big brother, it's awful. The police are here. I heard someone knock and I snuck downstairs to see what was going on. They were asking Mom and Dad all sorts of things about Lucy. She's ... she's been killed.

CUT TO BLACK—TITLE SEQUENCE

- - - -

EXT. GRAVEYARD—DAY

(A small casket is being lowered into a grave as SCHROEDER, 7, plays a mournful tune on his piano. Standing beside the casket holding white flowers are CHARLIE and SALLY; LINUS VAN PELT, 8; RERUN VAN PELT, 5; MARCIE, 8; and PEPPERMINT PATTY, 8. SNOOPY, 70, in full military uniform, stands at attention with WOODSTOCK, who is perched on his shoulder.)

PRIEST: (Offscreen.) Woh woh woh. Woh woh. Woh woh woh woh. Woh woh. Woh woh woh. Woh woh woh.

- - - -

EXT. GRAVEYARD—DAY

(PEPPERMINT PATTY, MARCIE, and CHARLIE BROWN stand by the road as the funeral procession drives off.)

CHARLIE: I can't believe she's gone. I'm still waiting for her to show up. (Pause.) Hey, has anyone seen Franklin? I'm surprised he didn't show.

PEPPERMINT PATTY: Well, Chuck, the fuzz picked up Franklin this morning.

CHARLIE: What? Why would they arrest Franklin?

PEPPERMINT PATTY: They didn't arrest him, Chuck, they just took him in for questioning. Mrs. Van Pelt never did like Lucy hanging around him.

- - - -

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM

(FRANKLIN, 8, sits behind a shoddy wooden desk. A single lamp hangs down from the ceiling. The two interrogators, offscreen, make a play at bad cop/good cop.)

OFFICER 1: (Forceful.) Woh woh. Woh woh woh. Woh woh woh woh woh woh.

FRANKLIN: I wouldn't. I thought Charlie Brown's other friends were a little strange, but I would never kill any of them. You've got the wrong guy.

OFFICER 1: Woh woh woh woh.

FRANKLIN: (Near tears.) No, I'm telling you I didn't do it!

OFFICER 2: (Sympathetic.) Woh woh woh. Woh. Woh woh woh woh.

OFFICER 1: (More forceful.) Woh woh woh woh! Woh woh.

OFFICER 2: Woh woh. Woh woh woh.

OFFICER 1: Woh!

(A door is heard opening, then slamming shut.)

FRANKLIN: Thank you for getting him out of here, he was scaring me.

OFFICER 2: Woh woh woh. Woh woh woh woh.

FRANKLIN: Well, I don't think she had any enemies, but she didn't always get along with all the crew ...

FADE TO BLACK

- - - -

INT. LIVING ROOM—DAY

(SALLY sits in her beanbag chair watching television. A loud crash is heard and the front door flies off its hinges.)

VOICE OFFSCREEN: WOH WOH WOH WOH!

- - - -

INT. BEDROOM—DAY

(CHARLIE BROWN sits at his desk with his head in his hands.)

SALLY: (Offscreen.) Run, big brother. It's the police—they have a search warrant!

- - - -

OTHER McSWEENEY'S FEATURES:

- - - -

Excerpt From the Unfinished Screenplay You're a Jailbird, Charlie Brown By Jeff Sutter
Thomas the NJ Transit Train By Marco Kaye
My DVD Player's User's Manual (as Written by Chuck Palahniuk) By Adam Manella
The Severely Allergic Restaurant Critic By Flip Jaeger
In the Year 2030, the Young Hotshot at My Office Tries to Walk Me Through "Centaur," Apple's New Mind-Orb-Based Operating System By Matthew DuVerne Hutchinson

- - - -

MAIN PAGE   |   ARCHIVES

 

Memories of Amanda Davis

 


Red dot denotes content that is new today.

Black dot denotes newish content.

McSWEENEY'S STORE

SUBSCRIBE TO:
McSWEENEY'S
THE BELIEVER
WHOLPHIN

FUTURE McSWEENEY'S BOOKS

THE AMANDA DAVIS HIGHWIRE FICTION AWARD

INVITE A McSWEENEY'S AUTHOR TO SPEAK IN YOUR TOWN OR COLLEGE

THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING

McSWEENEY'S MONTHLY MAILING LIST

McSWEENEY'S-RELATED EVENTS AND VARIOUS TOUR DATES

ORDER INQUIRIES AND ADDRESS CHANGES

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
FOR BOOKS
FOR THE QUARTERLY
FOR THE WEBSITE
FOR WHOLPHIN

McSWEENEY'S INTERNSHIPS

CONTACT US

- - - -

LETTERS TO McSWEENEY'S

LISTS

McSWEENEY'S PREDICTS

McSWEENEY'S RECOMMENDS

NEW WHOLPHIN FILM

DAN LIEBERT, VERBAL CARTOONIST

JOKES BY BRIAN BEATTY

REVIEWS OF NEW FOOD

DISPATCHES FROM MANILA

DISPATCHES FROM MOSCOW

SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT?

DISPATCHES FROM THE ANACOSTIA

THE WINNER'S CIRCLE WITH ERIC FEEZELL

BEN GREENMAN'S FAKE CELEBRITY MUSICALS

DISPATCHES FROM A HUMANITARIAN JOURNALIST

DEB OLIN UNFERTH'S SICK OF THE REVOLUTION

DISPATCHES FROM IRAQ

SHORT IMAGINED MONOLOGUES

PHILIP GRAHAM SPENDS A YEAR IN LISBON

STAINED TEETH: A COLUMN ABOUT WINE

DISPATCHES FROM THE NAPOLEONIC WARS AT THE MET

KEVIN DOLGIN TELLS YOU ABOUT PLACES YOU SHOULD GO IN EUROPE

SONGS OF ENEMIES AND DESERTS: LIVING WITH THE SUDAN LIBERATION ARMY

LAWRENCE WESCHLER'S EVERYTHING THAT RISES: A BOOK OF CONVERGENCES

THE CONVERGENCES CONTEST

ABOUT WHAT IS THE WHAT

ABOUT BOWL OF CHERRIES

ABOUT COMEDY BY THE NUMBERS

ABOUT JOHN BRANDON'S ARKANSAS

ABOUT MICHAEL CHABON'S MAPS AND LEGENDS

ABOUT UNDERGROUND AMERICA

ABOUT DEB OLIN UNFERTH'S VACATION

LETTERS FROM AN EARTH BALL TO, OR CONCERNING, SEAN HANNITY

DISPATCHES FROM ADJUNCT FACULTY AT A LARGE STATE UNIVERSITY

ADVICE FROM A PERSON WITH A BACHELOR'S DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY

DISPATCHES FROM THE NBA ENTERTAINMENT LEAGUE

JOHN MOE'S POP-SONG CORRESPONDENCES

B.R. COHEN'S ANNALS OF SCIENCE

INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE WHO HAVE INTERESTING OR UNUSUAL JOBS

OPEN LETTERS TO PEOPLE OR ENTITIES WHO ARE UNLIKELY TO RESPOND

DISPATCHES FROM A PUBLIC LIBRARIAN

MICHAEL IAN BLACK IS A VERY FAMOUS CELEBRITY

DISPATCHES FROM ROY KESEY, AN AMERICAN GUY MARRIED TO
A PERUVIAN DIPLOMAT LIVING IN CHINA


DAN KENNEDY SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS WITH PAPER

STEPHEN ELLIOTT'S POKER REPORT

- - - -

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL