-- and jams it under his chin. his head snaps back as the wall goes red. His swivel chair does a slow half-turn and creaks to a final stop. Troopers rise slowly, gazing in horror.

RED (V.O.)

I like to think the last thing that went through his head… other than that bullet…was to wonder how the hell Andy Dufresne ever got the best of him.

PUSH SLOWLY to the wall to reveal Mrs. Norton's framed sampler trickling blood and brains…and we get our final Bible lesson for today: "HIS JUDGMENT COMETH AND THAT RIGHT SOON."

EXT -- PRISON YARD -- DAY (1966)

Mail call. Red hears his name. They pass him a postcard.

RED (V.O.)

Not long after the warden deprived us of his company, I got a postcard in the mail. It was blank. But the postmark said, "McNary, Texas."

INT -- LIBRARY -- DAY (1966)

Red sits with an atlas, tracing his finger down the page.

RED (V.O.)

McNary. Right on the border. That's where Andy crossed.

(shuts the book)

When I picture him heading south in his own car with the top down, it makes me laugh all over again…

EXT -- MEXICO -- HIGHWAY -- DAY (1966)

A red convertible rips along with Andy at the wheel, cigar jutting from his grin, warm wind fluttering his tie.

RED (V.O.)

Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side. Andy Dufresne, headed for the Pacific.

INT -- MESS HALL -- DAY (1966)

Heywood is regaling the table with some anecdote about Andy.

RED (V.O.)

Those of us who knew him best talk about him often. I swear, the stuff he pulled. It always makes us laugh.

A wild burst of laughter. PUSH IN on Red. Feeling melancholy.

RED (V.O.)

Sometimes it makes me sad, though, Andy being gone. I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are just too bright…

EXT -- FIELDS -- LATE DAY (1966)

Convicts hoe the fields. Guards patrol on horseback.

RED (V.O.)

…and when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice… but still, the place you live is that much more drab and empty that they're gone.

A DISTANT RUMBLE OF THUNDER. Red pauses, gazes off. Storm clouds coming in, backlit by the sun. A light drizzle begins.

RED (V.O.)

I guess I just miss my friend.

INT -- PRISON CELL -- NIGHT (1966)

Red is sleeping. He wakes with a start.

RED (V.O.)

But there are times I curse him for the dreams he left behind…

He senses a presence, looks over his shoulder. There's a Rita Hayworth poster on his wall. He gets out of bed. Rita just keeps smiling, inscrutable. As Red watches, a brilliant round glow builds behind the poster, shining from the tunnel. The poster rips free, charred to ash in the blink of an eye as a shaft of holy white light stabs into the cell. Sunlight. Red staggers back against the glare.