MAN IN THE MIRROR

                                                   

                                                    SCREENPLAY


FADE IN

Thurgood McIntire was just an average high school teenager about to attend his first year in high school.

INT. THURGOOD’S HOUSE.DAY

MRS.MCINTIRE

Thurgood,you’re going to be just
fine in school.

THURGOOD
Mom,it’s just that there’s so many
students there.

MRS.MCINTIRE
I know baby.But just stay focus.

THURGOOD
I will mom.

Thurgood left for school. While walking down the street he heard a voice from behind.

VOICE
Hey kid. Wait up.

Thurgood turned around to see four guys approaching him. He turned back around and started running towards school.

STRANGER
We’ll get you next time kid.

Thurgood made it to school. He ran inside. Out of breath. He bumped into one of the high school football players.

FOOTBALL PLAYER
Hey,what the...

The football player was tall and big. He was walking with his crew. He looked down at Thurgood.

FOOTBALL PLAYER
What’s your hurry, shrimp?

THURGOOD
I’m sorry.

A crowd was forming.

FOOTBALL PLAYER
The shrimp’s sorry.

THURGOOD
I don’t want any trouble.

FOOTBALL PLAYER
But you found trouble.

The football player picked up Thurgood and shook him until his glasses fell off. He then through Thurgood up against the locker. Thurgood fell on top of his glasses and bent the
frame. He put them back on. They were crooked. The other kids started laughing at him. Thurgood picked up his book bag and walked to his locker to finish putting up his items,
then he walked to his class. When he entered his classroom, right away his teacher had started on him.

TEACHER
Thurgood McIntire. That is
you,right?

THURGOOD
Yes,sir.

TEACHER
You’re already starting on my bad
side. You’re going to make it up
after school by staying here and
study for forty five minutes.

THURGOOD
But sir. It was the school football
player that held me up. He was
picking on me.

TEACHER
Stop your complaining and sit over
there.

Thurgood sat down while the rest of the students snickered at him. Lunchtime had arrived. Thurgood went into the washroom to wash his hands. While washing his hands he heard a voice.

MAN IN THE MIRROR
Thurgood.

Thurgood looked around.

MAN IN THE MIRROR
Over here, stupid.

Thurgood turned towards the mirror and saw his reflection,but his reflection wasn’t moving with him.

MAN IN THE MIRROR
That’s right. I’m you.

THURGOOD
How can you do that?

MAN IN THE MIRROR
I’m in a different universe than
yours. We sort of crossed over. My
universe is parallel to yours,
except we’re stronger and slightly
opposite. I was watching you and
since we are the same I decided to
give you an opportunity to become
all that you always wanted to be.
THURGOOD
I don’t believe this.

Thurgood left the washroom and realized that he was late for lunch. It was time to go to his next class.

THURGOOD
Now I’ve missed lunch. I must be
going crazy.

When Thurgood was about to leave the washroom the football players had entered.

ROBERT
Hey. It’s the shrimp.

Robert is the captain of the football team.

THURGOOD
Oh no. Not again.

ROBERT
Get him, boys.

They picked up Thurgood and carried him over to the toilet.Then ducked his head inside. One of the other football players had flushed the toilet. They lifted him up and water
was dripping all down on his clothes.

ROBERT
So long, shrimp.

The football players all left the washroom. Thurgood knew that he was going to be late for his next class but he just had to clean himself up. He washed his hands.

MAN IN THE MIRROR
You’re going to take that? All you
have to do is place your hand up
against the mirror and I’ll switch
with you for a while and you’ll be
able to watch everything that I do.
This will be your chance to get
even with them. I can gain back
your respect. Trust me.

THURGOOD
Ok.I’ll do it.

Thurgood placed his hand up against the mirror.

THURGOOD
Ohhhh!

Thurgood was pulled inside of the mirror and the image was coming out of it.

THURGOOD
Where am I?

THURGOOD TWO
You’re in my world. Go have some
fun. You’ll find it a lot different
that yours. I’ll keep in touch.

Thurgood turned around and left to explore his new universe. Meanwhile the image that had taken over Thurgood’s life has also taken his name.

THURGOOD TWO
Now I’m Thurgood. I think I’ll try
out for football.

INT/EXT.FOODBALL FIELD.DAY

Thurgood Two decided to skip class and go outside where the football team were practicing. He walked over to the coach.

THURGOOD TWO
Hey mister.

The coach turned around.

COACH
What do you want?

THURGOOD TWO
I want to join the team.

COACH
So you want to join the team. Have
you ever played football before?

THURGOOD TWO
I’ve kicked the ball around a few
times.

COACH
How tall are you?

THURGOOD TWO
Tall enough to beat anyone of your
boys.

COACH
You’re mighty sure of yourself
aren’t you?

THURGOOD TWO
Enough to know that every time I
get the ball I will score a
touchdown.

COACH
Ok my cocky friend. Go get yourself
a uniform.

THURGOOD TWO
That’s ok. I won’t get dirty. I’ll
play like this.

COACH
Follow me.

The coach blew his whistle and the team had stopped practicing.

ROBERT
Hey it’s the shrimp and he’s with
the coach.

The football team walked over to the coach.

ROBERT
What gives, Coach?

COACH
I have someone here that wants to
join the team. Robert, I want you
to give him the ball and the rest
of you are to keep him from getting
a touchdown.

ROBERT
But coach, we’ll kill him. I know
this kid and he’s not football
material.

COACH
I know that, but he insist that he
can make a touchdown every time he
gets the ball.

Thurgood Two smiled at the team.

ROBERT
We’ll wipe that smile off of your
face.

ANOTHER FOOTBALL PLAYER
Hey coach. Isn’t he going to wear
any padding?

THURGOOD TWO
Don’t worry about me. I don’t need
any.

COACH
You really are cocky.

The bell had rung and the students started running towards the practice field to get a glimpse of the football team. Robert’s girlfriend, Carla, was with her friends. They all
sat on the bleachers.

CARLA
Why is that boy without a uniform?

JENNY
Isn’t that the boy the team was
picking on?"

CARLA
That is him. Why is he joining the
team?
He’s going to get hurt. I know it.

Some of the other students were watching Carla and Jenny standing up nervous.

JOEY
What’s the matter?

JENNY
That kid’s going to get killed on
the field.

VOICE IN CROWD
Killed?

More kids started joining in on the scene.

ANOTHER VOICE
What’s happening?

JOEY
There’s a kid about to commit
suicide on the football field.

Now all of the bleachers were filling up. The football players took their positions. Thurgood Two stood at his spot.The ball was snapped to Robert. Robert threw the ball to
Thurgood Two,who caught it and started running. He went in and out between each player. Soon there was no one near him and he ran for the touchdown. He through the ball at the ground and placed both of his hands on his hip. Then stood there.

COACH
I don’t believe this. You mean none
of you could stop him?

The players all looked at the ground while Thurgood Two walked towards them.

COACH
This time I want you to snap the
ball to Thurgood. Thurgood, I want
you to run straight up the middle
and lets see if you clowns can stop
him this time.

Robert looked at Thurgood Two.

ROBERT
You’re dead meat now, shrimp.

THURGOOD TWO
When this is over, it’s you and me,
chump.

Robert was shocked to hear such confidence coming out of that kid.

COACH
Ok,positions.

Robert gave the signals and at the right time the ball was snapped back to Robert who handed the ball right back to Thurgood Two,who went right up the middle. There were ten players trying to bring him down. A big three hundred pound player ran into Thurgood Two, who then stuck out his arm and the player went down after running into it. More players had jumped on Thurgood Two’s back and Thurgood Two was actually
carrying them along towards the field goal. The players started falling off of his back. There were two players hanging on to Thurgood Two as he went pass the goal line for
a touchdown. Everyone on the bleachers had stood up shouting. More students had ran over to see what the shouting was all about. Everyone said that they have a kid that was unstoppable on the field and that they were going to win the pennant this year.

COACH
If I didn’t see it with my own eyes
I wouldn’t have believed it. Hey
kid. Come over here. You guys take
a shower. Practice is over.

The players all ran into the shower room.

JEFFERY
Robert, can you explain what just
happened out there?

ROBERT
I don’t know myself.

THOMAS
You know something. If this kid
plays on our team, we’ll be in
first place for sure and we’ll
probably win the pennant this year.

JEFFERY
How come that kid let us roust him
like that? He could’ve taken us all
out.
BRUTO
Who’s to say that he’s not finished
yet. I weigh over three hundred
pounds and when I ran into his arm
it felt like I had ran into a steel
beam that wouldn’t budge. I’ll tell
you this. That kid’s not human.

Just then Thurgood Two walked into the locker room.

THURGOOD TWO
Robert, I want to talk to you. Lets
walk over to the washroom.

ROBERT
What do you want to talk about?

THURGOOD TWO
Jeffery, Bruto,Carl.You can come
also.

They followed Thurgood Two into the washroom. The rest of the players decided to come along. One of the players decided to go and get the coach.

THURGOOD TWO
Robert, I want you to put your head
in the toilet.

ROBERT
You’re crazy. I’m not going to.....

Before Robert could finish,Thurgood two had grabbed Robert like he was a baby and turned him upside down. Then placed his whole body angled inside of the toilet. His head was under water. He lifted him up and told the rest of the players to piss in the toilet. They did. When they were finished he grabbed Robert again.

ROBERT
(shouting)
Nooooo!

Thurgood placed Robert’s head back under water again. Robert had swallowed some water and Thurgood Two lifted him out of the water and dropped him onto the floor.


THURGOOD TWO
Now,Jeffery,Bruto,and Carl. Do you
want to do it the easy way or the
hard way?

Jeffery,Bruto,and Carl had placed their heads inside of the toilets just as the coach had walked in. The coach saw Robert on the floor gagging.

COACH
What’s going on in here?

THURGOOD TWO
A little payback,Coach.By the way.
I changed my mind about joining
your team. They couldn’t compete
with me anyway.

Thurgood two left the locker room. He walked outside greeted by all of the kids.

JENNY
Thurgood,how did you do that?

THURGOOD TWO
Just skills, baby.

JENNY
Thurgood,do you have a girlfriend?

THURGOOD TWO
No, I don’t.

JENNY
Do you want one?

THURGOOD TWO
Asked me again next time you see
me.

EXT/INT.SCHOOL.DAY

Thurgood two walked back inside of the school and into his class room.

TEACHER
Thurgood,you’re suppose to ....

Before the teacher could finish his sentence,Thurgood had picked him right off of the floor. His feet was not even touching the ground.

THURGOOD TWO
Listen here Teach. From now on
you’ll treat me with respect. You
hear? Or I’ll make mince meat out
of you. I can also make you
disappear.

TEACHER
Sure Mr. Thurgood.

THURGOOD TWO
Just call me Thurgood. I don’t want
favoritism noticed by the other
kids. Now you can leave.

The teacher ran out of the door. Thurgood left the room and then the school. He walked home. He saw the same four guys waiting on the corner.

INT/EXT.THE CORNER.DAY

LEADER
Here he comes again.

They walked towards Thurgood Two. They thought that he was going to run but he didn’t. Thurgood Two walked towards the guys.

THURGOOD TWO
This morning you wanted to speak to
me but I was in a hurry for school.
Now I’m listening.

The guys were a little confused.

THURGOOD TWO
What’s the matter? Cat got your
tongue?

LEADER
You think you’re kind of tough.

THURGOOD TWO
Try me.


The leader threw a punch at Thurgood Two,but Thurgood Two grabbed his arm and broke it. He yelled out in pain. The other guys tried to rush him, but Thurgood Two knocked the wind out of both of them and did a round house kick to the face of the last one. They were all on the ground moaning in pain.

THURGOOD TWO
Listen up. This morning I was in a
good mood. I like to stay in a good
mood until someone puts me in a bad
mood. Now I don’t want to see you
in my neighborhood again. If you
see me you better turn around and
walk in another direction or this
time I will kill you all and I
don’t care about going to prison,
because you’ll be dead. Do you
understand me?

WHOLE GANG
Yea,man.We understand.

THURGOOD TWO
Now get.

They all got up and ran away. Thurgood Two went inside of his house.

EXT/INT.THURGOOD’S HOUSE.DAY

THURGOOD TWO
Mom, I’m home from school.

MRS.MCINTIRE
So how was your first day?

THURGOOD TWO
It was very interesting.

MRS.MCINTIRE
I’m cooking dinner for you. So go
upstairs and wash your hands,ok?

THURGOOD TWO
Ok,mom.

Thurgood Two went upstairs to the washroom. He looked in the mirror. He saw his reflection.

THURGOOD TWO
Thurgood.Thurgood.

So far the reflection was doing what he was doing, but then it moved on it’s own.

THURGOOD
So how was it?

THURGOOD TWO
You’ll be surprised. Now look here.
Your mother is cooking dinner for
you and you’re supposed to be
washing your hands. Tomorrow, when
you go to school,no matter what
happens. You go with it. You
understand?

THURGOOD
What’s supposed to happen?

THURGOOD TWO
Things had changed in your favor.
So you have to act like you’ve
always acted. Meek,ok?

THURGOOD
If you say so.

THURGOOD TWO
Now put your hand on the mirror.

Thurgood did. Then suddenly they both were pulled inside the mirror from opposite directions.

THURGOOD TWO
Enjoy your new life. My universe is
moving away from yours.

THURGOOD
Whatever you did, thanks.

The reflection started doing what Thurgood was doing. Thurgood washed his hands and
went downstairs to eat dinner.

MRS.MCINTIRE
Your plate is ready, son.

THURGOOD
Thanks, mom.

MRS.MCINTIRE
Now tell me everything that
happened in school.

THURGOOD
Well, I found all of my classes.I
met a lot of new friends and nice
teachers.

MRS.MCINTIRE
I told you that there was nothing
you had to worry about.

THURGOOD
You sure did mom.

Thurgood finished eating. Mom, it’s getting late and I better get my things together for school tomorrow.

MRS.MCINTIRE
Ok,son. You go ahead while I clean
up.

Thurgood went upstairs. The next morning,Thurgood was ready to walk out the door.

THURGOOD
Bye mom. I’ll see you later when I
get home.

MRS.MCINTIRE
Ok,son.You have a good day.

INT/EXT. OUTSIDE.DAY

Thurgood went outside and started walking to school. When he had crossed the street and passed a playground, he saw the same guys who was calling him before, playing basketball. He started to run but it was too late. The guys saw him. They had stopped playing ball and dropped it. Then they ran away as fast as they could, without taking the ball with them.

THURGOOD
I wonder what that was all about?

He kept on walking to school. Once he was on the school grounds he heard something.

THE GIRLS
Here he comes.

Girls started running towards him.

THE GIRLS
Thurgood, we love you.

THURGOOD
I don’t know what to say.

Jenny ran up to him.

JENNY
Did you make up your mind yet?

THURGOOD
About what?

JENNY
About me being your girl.

THURGOOD
I had too much on my mind lately,
but I’ll let you know.

The girls walked Thurgood into the school.

THURGOOD
I better get to class before I’m
late.

JENNY
Ok,Thurgood,but I’ll be waiting for
my answer.

Thurgood was already late for class.

THURGOOD
Sorry, sir.

TEACHER
Thurgood,don’t worry about it. In
fact, you can be late as often as
you like and you will always be in
good standing with me. Is there any
place you would like to sit?

THURGOOD
Can I sit here, sir?

TEACHER
Thurgood,you can call me Tom.

The principal walked into the classroom to talk to Thurgood.

PRINCIPAL
Thurgood, I’m the principal of this
school and I personally want to
welcome you here. Have you
considered playing any sports?

THURGOOD
No, sir.

PRINCIPAL
Thurgood,you can call me Matthew.
Tom, you treat this young man with
extra curtesy.You here?

TEACHER
Yes, sir.

The principal turned around and left the class room.

THURGOOD
This is getting stranger by the
minute.

The bell had rung for lunch and the class got up to leave.They all wanted to hang around with Thurgood. When Thurgood had entered the lunchroom he turned around and bumped into the captain of the football team. The captain’s tray had fell to the ground.
ROBERT
You stupid.....

He didn’t finish his sentence.

ROBERT
Thurgood. I’m sorry,man.I should’ve
looked where I was going. Can I buy
you lunch?

Another football player came forward.

ANOTHER FOOTBALL PLAYER
Hey,man. Let me buy his lunch.

The rest of the football team came forward.

FOOTBALL TEAM
From now on, lunch is on us.

ROBERT
Thurgood, why don’t you join our
team?

THURGOOD
I’m sorry. I don’t play football.

ROBERT
Well, you sure can fool us.

THURGOOD
I just want to eat my lunch.

ROBERT
Yes,Thurgood. We’ll let you eat
your lunch. I’m sorry I bumped into
you. It won’t happen again.

While Thurgood was eating his lunch, he looked up and saw Jenny staring at him. She was so beautiful.

THURGOOD
(asking himself)
Why not?

He beckoned for Jenny to come over and she jumped at the chance.

THURGOOD
Do that offer still stands?

JENNY
It sure does.

THURGOOD
Then I except.

Jenny screamed and her girls ran over to her. They all hugged each other and Jenny grabbed Thurgood and kept kissing him. When lunch was over and school had ended,
Thurgood left for home. While he was walking home, holding hands with Jenny, he thought to himself.

THURGOOD
My time in high school is sure
going to be great. Thanks to the
man in the mirror.


                                                                                                            The End


FADE OUT