smile)
You did okay,
McDowell.
Jeff shakes his head, obviously eaten up by
guilt. He’s sound and whole, but he’s the guy in the chair too, and his face is
corroded by self-doubt.
JEFF
You did okay. I
wasn’t there –
Unable to face his crippled counterpart,
Jeff turns away.
VET
(softly)
I wasn’t there
either. Not for Denise. Not for Megan.
The Vet rolls himself over to a dresser,
and picks up a framed photograph of Megan, stares at it.
VET
(continues)
If
you can hold your little girl in your arms and think for even a second that you
did anything wrong, then you’re the dumbest human being ever walked the face of
the earth. Believe me, Jeff. You didn’t miss nothing.
ANGLE ON JEFF
As he turns back, reacting to what the Vet
has said, to the obvious truth of it. He’s choked up. Denise goes to him,
wordlessly. They embrace.
VET
I think ... maybe
it’s time I went.
Denise turns to him.
DENISE
You don’t have to.
I mean, you can stay.
VET
(sadly)
No. I can’t. At
least now I’ve got a few things to remember, huh?
Jeff reacts sharply, he’s had a thought.
JEFF
The flashbacks—
(beat)
You and me, we’re
the same person. It has to work both ways,
(beat, decisively)
I’ve got memories
too. Maybe if we touched, or—
He steps forward, but the Vet rolls
backward, away from him.
VET
No! You don’t know
what you’re talking about.
JEFF
(softly, with compassion)
I’m
talking about the day Denise and I got married. Our honeymoon. The day Megan
was born.
VET
(bitterly)
It
ain’t one way, Jeff. Think of what you’ll get in return. You’ll remember them
dyin’ around you. The hospitals, the years in the chair.
(beat)
You’ll
remember standing there while they backed away from you, watching you, all of
them watching you. You won’t sleep so good, and sometimes you’ll wake up
screaming.
Jeff hesitates, looks to Denise. She nods.
He kisses her, steps toward the Vet.
JEFF
I’m not afraid of a
few nightmares,
(wry smile)
I can always hide
under the blankets, right?
He holds out his hand. The Vet stares up at
him, then, very slowly, reaches out and takes Jeff’s hand in both of his. Jeff
winces sharply, as if in pain. The Vet closes his eyes. Tears begin to run down
his cheek.
CLOSE ON DENISE
as she watches.
ANGLE PAST DENISE ON SCENE
The two Jeff McDowells seem to glow with a
strange blue-green light, as ghostly afterimages flicker about each of them.
Her Jeff, standing, seems for a moment to be wearing a uniform, and then a long
straggly beard. The Vet appears to be dressed in a 6os-style tux, then in
civilian clothes; his trouser legs FILL OUT as LEGS shimmer into view, spectral
and glowing, but legs nonetheless. He opens his eyes, stares in wonder, then RISES
from the chair.
VET
I guess maybe we’re
both heroes, huh?
The Vet, now standing, EMBRACES Jeff, the
strange light playing all about them.
Then the two bodies seem to MELT into each
other, to MERGE and become one. The light grows so intense that Denise shies
away, covers her eyes.
When the glow fades, the wheelchair and the
Vet are gone, and only the original Jeff McDowell remains. Denise runs to him,
and they embrace, holding each other very tight and hard. We HOLD the shot
as the NARRATORS voice comes up.
NARRATOR
We
make our choices, and afterwards wonder what that other road was like. Jeff
McDowell found out, and paid the toll. A lesson in courage and cartography,
from the mapmakers of the Twilight Zone.
THE END
<>
* * * *
Doorways
FADE IN
EXT. - FREEWAY - NIGHT - AERIAL
Traffic is fast and heavy. Suddenly we hear
a CRACK, as loud as a clap of thunder, as sharp as a sonic boom.
SMASH CUT TO TIGHT
ON CAT
A girl stands trapped in the center of the
freeway, as speeding
You did okay,
McDowell.
Jeff shakes his head, obviously eaten up by
guilt. He’s sound and whole, but he’s the guy in the chair too, and his face is
corroded by self-doubt.
JEFF
You did okay. I
wasn’t there –
Unable to face his crippled counterpart,
Jeff turns away.
VET
(softly)
I wasn’t there
either. Not for Denise. Not for Megan.
The Vet rolls himself over to a dresser,
and picks up a framed photograph of Megan, stares at it.
VET
(continues)
If
you can hold your little girl in your arms and think for even a second that you
did anything wrong, then you’re the dumbest human being ever walked the face of
the earth. Believe me, Jeff. You didn’t miss nothing.
ANGLE ON JEFF
As he turns back, reacting to what the Vet
has said, to the obvious truth of it. He’s choked up. Denise goes to him,
wordlessly. They embrace.
VET
I think ... maybe
it’s time I went.
Denise turns to him.
DENISE
You don’t have to.
I mean, you can stay.
VET
(sadly)
No. I can’t. At
least now I’ve got a few things to remember, huh?
Jeff reacts sharply, he’s had a thought.
JEFF
The flashbacks—
(beat)
You and me, we’re
the same person. It has to work both ways,
(beat, decisively)
I’ve got memories
too. Maybe if we touched, or—
He steps forward, but the Vet rolls
backward, away from him.
VET
No! You don’t know
what you’re talking about.
JEFF
(softly, with compassion)
I’m
talking about the day Denise and I got married. Our honeymoon. The day Megan
was born.
VET
(bitterly)
It
ain’t one way, Jeff. Think of what you’ll get in return. You’ll remember them
dyin’ around you. The hospitals, the years in the chair.
(beat)
You’ll
remember standing there while they backed away from you, watching you, all of
them watching you. You won’t sleep so good, and sometimes you’ll wake up
screaming.
Jeff hesitates, looks to Denise. She nods.
He kisses her, steps toward the Vet.
JEFF
I’m not afraid of a
few nightmares,
(wry smile)
I can always hide
under the blankets, right?
He holds out his hand. The Vet stares up at
him, then, very slowly, reaches out and takes Jeff’s hand in both of his. Jeff
winces sharply, as if in pain. The Vet closes his eyes. Tears begin to run down
his cheek.
CLOSE ON DENISE
as she watches.
ANGLE PAST DENISE ON SCENE
The two Jeff McDowells seem to glow with a
strange blue-green light, as ghostly afterimages flicker about each of them.
Her Jeff, standing, seems for a moment to be wearing a uniform, and then a long
straggly beard. The Vet appears to be dressed in a 6os-style tux, then in
civilian clothes; his trouser legs FILL OUT as LEGS shimmer into view, spectral
and glowing, but legs nonetheless. He opens his eyes, stares in wonder, then RISES
from the chair.
VET
I guess maybe we’re
both heroes, huh?
The Vet, now standing, EMBRACES Jeff, the
strange light playing all about them.
Then the two bodies seem to MELT into each
other, to MERGE and become one. The light grows so intense that Denise shies
away, covers her eyes.
When the glow fades, the wheelchair and the
Vet are gone, and only the original Jeff McDowell remains. Denise runs to him,
and they embrace, holding each other very tight and hard. We HOLD the shot
as the NARRATORS voice comes up.
NARRATOR
We
make our choices, and afterwards wonder what that other road was like. Jeff
McDowell found out, and paid the toll. A lesson in courage and cartography,
from the mapmakers of the Twilight Zone.
THE END
<
* * * *
Doorways
FADE IN
EXT. - FREEWAY - NIGHT - AERIAL
Traffic is fast and heavy. Suddenly we hear
a CRACK, as loud as a clap of thunder, as sharp as a sonic boom.
SMASH CUT TO TIGHT
ON CAT
A girl stands trapped in the center of the
freeway, as speeding
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