MIRROR, MIRROR

CHARACTERS

DAWN. 25, female with long brown, greasy hair. Her life has been a series of bad decisions, encounters with bad luck and meetings with bad people. Recently she's been out of work, disowned by her family and without any friends. She lives alone in her one bedroom apartment without ever seeing the outside world. She blames one person for her bad stroke of fortune in life and is Hell-bent on doing what she can to meet this person face-to-face one last time.

SCENE I

In the center of a dark stage sits DAWN, young woman in an ivory-colored sheer nightgown. The stage is mostly bare, though it should look as though it is DAWN'S BEDROOM. There should be a mattress completely bare save for an old flower-print BEDSHEET behind her, a WINDOW on the wall that's open with a curtain flying to the side to indicate that it's windy outside. Next to her mattress is a small night stand with a DIMLY-LIT LAMP and an ALARM CLOCK on it that reads 3:00 AM. Directly beside where she's sitting is a VANITY that has a large, oval MIRROR. There should be a small, delicate looking SEAT placed in front of the vanity.

On the floor where DAWN sits should lie TWO UNLIT CANDLES and a SALT SHAKER.

DAWN
20 minutes...

DAWN
If everything works out right it will take only 20 minutes for this to be finally done with.

DAWN
Once and for all.

DAWN stands and paces the floor.

DAWN
But when do things ever work out right?

DAWN
If they did, I wouldn't be in this position...

DAWN
If ANYTHING in my life went the way it was supposed to, everything would be different.

DAWN
I would have never had to deal with HER. I'd be a better person for it...

DAWN
Yet somehow I'm putting all my faith into believing that these next few minutes will fix everything. Maybe I'm just so helpless that I'll believe in anything at this point...

DAWN stops center stage and addresses the audience.

DAWN
But something inside me just tells me that this will work. That maybe, just maybe, things will all be okay in the end.
 

DAWN walks over and picks up the TWO CANDLES and the SALT SHAKER and places them on the VANITY. She speaks as if she is addressing another person, though no one is there.
 

DAWN
It's funny, for the longest time I would hope and pray that modern technology would become so advanced it would allow us to travel through space and time.

DAWN
But I suppose everyone wishes that--to redo certain events, relive special moments.

DAWN walks over to the NIGHT STAND and turns off the LAMP.

DAWN
Mostly I just wanted to go back and stop myself before ever meeting her.

DAWN
You know, I've tried to arrange a meeting with her to hash this all out like two adults. But OF COURSE she refused.

DAWN stands center stage again and addresses the audience.

DAWN
This is the only way.

DAWN exits stage right and the stage goes dark.

SCENE II

The ALARM CLOCK starts loudly going off, we can see that it says 3:30 AM. DAWN rushes back into the room from stage right. DAWN turns the alarm clock off and resets it. She pauses and closes her eyes, taking a moment in inhale and exhale loudly. DAWN picks the salt shaker from the VANITY and, with her right hand, starts shaking it over her left hand, allowing the salt to pile up in her hand.  She walks over to the VANITY and, using only her right hand, grabs a LONG MATCHSTICK from the vanity. She strikes it along the side of the vanity and lights both CANDLES. She sits on the CHAIR in front of the VANITY and closes her eyes. Slowly, she begins to lean in closer and closer to the MIRROR. Her face gets so close to the MIRROR she's almost touching it.

DAWN
Now...

DAWN pushes her CHAIR back and, with her eyes still closed, moves her head as if she's looking around her room. Again, she speaks as if she is addressing another person, her eyes still closed.

DAWN
I know you're here. I want you to leave.

DAWN stands and places her right hand on the VANITY to steady herself, eyes still closed.

DAWN
We did this switch once before and it was the worst mistake of my life. I'm asking you nicely now...

DAWN
Leave this place and never come back.

DAWN
Allow me the happiness I deserve.

DAWN
I can feel it. It's so close by.

THE ALARM CLOCK goes off again as it reads 3:53. DAWN, eyes still closed, walks backward a few steps, away from the MIRROR. DAWN quickly throws her HANDFUL OF SALT at the mirror, which should also extinguish the CANDLES at the same time. 

The stage goes dark.

SCENE III

Without looking at the VANITY, DAWN quickly turns around to shut off the ALARM CLOCK and turn on the LAMP. DAWN faces the MIRROR again and, upon seeing her reflection, begins to cry.

DAWN
No...

DAWN
NO!

DAWN runs toward the VANITY and begins to yell at her reflection.

DAWN
Y-you're still here...

DAWN
Why are you still here? I wanted you gone!

DAWN runs over to her BED and rips the old SHEET off the MATTRESS. She takes the SHEET and throws it over the MIRROR.  She tries to compose herself as she walks away.

DAWN
It's no use.

DAWN
It didn't work.

DAWN
NOTHING ever works.

DAWN lets out an anguished cry as she runs toward the VANITY. She rips off the SHEET and begins to pound her fists into the MIRROR, causing it to break into shards. We can see her blood splattering out from her fists.

Exhausted, DAWN falls onto the floor. She lies motionless. We cannot tell if she's breathing.

The MIRROR is broken into many small pieces, yet we can still see DAWN'S REFLECTION in it clearly, standing upright, smiling.

END.