Sunday-Funday (Opening Scene)

First draft of my assignment for creative writing class! Planning on this being the opening scene of a young adult comedy. Reviews needed BIG TIME.

ACT ONE

FADE IN:

EXT. AFFLUENT SUBURBAN HOUSE �" MORNING

INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY

HARRISON SR. and his son HARRISON JUNIOR pace urgently around their home on a Sunday morning. HARRISON SR. opens the hallway closet and starts frantically rummaging inside.

HARRISON SR.

When I get my hands on that kid, I’ll kill him.

JUNIOR

Dad, you don’t even know if he was actually here.

HARRISON SR.

The kitchen window is wide open and he’s all over the surveillance footage.

JUNIOR

But the footage is all grainy, and the security alarm didn’t go off.

Satisfied with the hallway closet, they move into the BATHROOM �" CONTINUOUS

HARRISON SR. shoots back the shower curtain, pulling it off the rings completely. Nothing’s there.

HARRISON SR.

Chad’s been over here a million times, he probably figured out how to disable the alarm system.

HARRISON SR. tosses the curtain aside and they move back into the HALLWAY looking into every room they pass.

JUNIOR

Dad, no offense, but you’re starting to sound a teensy bit obsessed.

HARRISON SR.

Junior, I gave this kid a job...

JUNIOR

Is a job really a job if it doesn’t pay?

HARRISON SR.

Whatever. I gave him an unpaid internship at my office. I let him into our home. I gave him the food off of our dinner table-

JUNIOR

Technically, Mom did that.

HARRISON SR.

Whatever! I did all of that because out of the goodness of my heart...

JUNIOR

Mom’s heart...

HARRISON SR.

... I wanted to do something good for a nice kid. And how does he repay me? By sneaking into my house and running off with my daughter.

They slip into the MASTER BEDROOM. HARRISON SR. starts checking under the bed, in the closet, inside dresser drawers...

JUNIOR

Okay, now I’m lost. Could you please explain how we’ve gone from; “Somebody broke into the house” to “The college intern broke into the house and kidnapped Lily”?

HARRISON SR.

It’s all in the surveillance footage. Chad’s truck pulls up, then he sneaks in through the window and leaves twenty minutes later with your sister.

JUNIOR

Hm. How do you know it was Lily he left with?

HARRISON SR.

I think I’d recognize my own daughter. Plus, she was wrapped up in that favorite school sweatshirt of hers. She never takes it off.

(He gives up searching the room and takes a beat for the first time.)

Do you think we could track them down through Lily’s iPhone?

JUNIOR

If you want her to end up in therapy one day, then yes.

HARRISON Sr. walks over to the bedroom fireplace, poised to step inside and climb up.

JUNIOR

Dad, stop. (He grabs HARRISON SR's arm and pulls him away from the fireplace)  Just stop and think a little bit about what you’re doing. You’re an adult about to climb into a chimney.

HARRISON SR.

You’re right. My laptop is downstairs. Come help me log into the “Find My iPhone” thingy.

HARRISON SR. exits. Then, O/S;

Are you coming?

JUNIOR

Yea, in a minute.

JUNIOR waits eagerly in silence for a few seconds, then walks over to the door and checks left and right before quietly shutting it closed. He makes his way over to the fireplace and knocks on the wall three times. CHAD clumsily falls out of the chimney and into the fireplace, covered in dust and grime.

CHAD

(Through coughs) Did he see me?

JUNIOR

Nope, we’re good. We're really lucky I look so girly from the back.

The two steal a kiss.

CHAD.

You never told me your dad had cameras set up. How am I going to get out of here?

JUNIOR

There’s a blind spot on this side of the house. (He walks over to the window and pries it open.) Try not to fall off the window ledge and ruin your pretty face.

CHAD

(Smiling) Same time tonight?

JUNIOR

Yep. Oh, and you might want to turn off the location setting on your phone. Apparently, my dad knows about Track my iPhone.

CHAD

Copy that.

CHAD exits through the window. JUNIOR shuts it behind him just as HARRISON SR. ENTERS again.

HARRISON SR

Who are you talking to?

JUNIOR

(With a shrug) Nobody.

FADE OUT: