A short dramatic script written by Julio Gagne, featured on the Six-Page Scripts podcast.

1. The Reflection
Julio Gagne

2. FADE IN
EXT. OPEN AIR MARKET - DAY
An old (80s), fair skinned, white haired man walks his bike
among Latino vendors selling vegetables, fish, headless
chickens, flowers and fruit juices dispensed from large glass
containers. This is SENOR WAGNER. The basket on the back of
his bike is already pretty full of food he’s picked up at the
market.
He stops at a fish stand. The VENDOR sports a nice variety
of fish, from trout to catfish, all fresh and on a bed of
ice.
SENOR WAGNER
(in poor Spanish, with a
German accent)
Good morning, Ricardo. Any
herring?
RICARDO
(in perfect Spanish with
an Argentinian accent)
I saved some just for you, Senor
Wagner.
Ricardo opens an ice chest behind the main display and takes
out a ziplock baggie with five herring.
SENOR WAGNER
Can you ice them please?
RICARDO
Of course.
Ricardo scoops some ice off the display, puts it inside the
baggie and hands it to Senor Wagner.
SENOR WAGNER
How much today?
RICARDO
Still the same.
Senor Wagner hands him some coins.
SENOR WAGNER
Thank you.
RICARDO
Thank you, senor. And god bless
you.

3. Senor Wagner serpentines his bike through the market,
stopping now and then to sniff a fruit or chit chat with a
vendor. Finally, he reaches the end of the stalls, gets up
on his bike and rides off.
The road, narrow and cobblestone, snakes through a quaint
Argentinian village.
He reaches the local post office and parks his bike.
INT. OFFICE - DAY
It’s a disorganized home office. There’s a large desk in
there somewhere underneath the piles of papers, books,
newspapers and photographs. There are shelves of books on
all the walls, except for one, which has a bank of filing
cabinets.
ELI ROSEN (80s, but very alive), sits at the desk, writing in
a card. On a chair next to him sits an oval, antique mirror,
suitable for hanging in a bedroom or hall.
ON THE CARD he writes:
“It’s been sixty years, but it feels like yesterday. It took
a while, but I found you. I hope this mirror brings you some
memories of times gone by.”
The door to the office opens and ELI’S WIFE pops her head in.
Instantly he throws a lap blanket over the mirror.
ELI
What, you don’t knock?
ELI’S WIFE
All these years married and I need
to knock in my own house? Supper,
Eli.
She pops her head back out and slams the door.
Eli, puts the card in an envelope, seals it and tapes it to
the mirror.
INT. POST OFFICE - DAY
Senor Wagner stands behind a PLUMP WOMAN attended to by a
POSTAL CLERK. She finishes and smiles at Senor Wagner on her
way out. He smiles back.
2.

4. SENOR WAGNER
Hello, Hector. Any mail today?
POSTAL CLERK
Hello, Senor Wagner. Yes, a
package. Let me get it.
He disappears into the back of the post office.
VOICE (O.C.)
(in German, and barely
audible)
Doctor.
Senor Wagner looks behind him. No one else is in the room.
The Postal Clerk re-emerges with a large package.
POSTAL CLERK
Can you get this home? I can drop
it off after I close up.
SENOR WAGNER
Very kind. I’ll manage fine.
Thank you, Hector.
Senor Wagner takes the package, puzzled by it.
THE PACKAGE is addressed to Klaus Wagner, in Villa Lago
Puelo, Argentina.
EXT. DIRT ROAD - DAY
Senor Wagner walks his bike, package balanced on the
handlebars, up a dirt road to a humble cottage at the edge of
some woods and a lake.
INT. OFFICE - DAY
Eli sits, asleep in his chair. A loud KNOCK startles him
awake.
ELI
Come in. Come in.
Eli’s wife opens the door. Standing with her is a rabbi.
ELI’S WIFE
Rabbi Silverman is here to see you.
She looks puzzled.
3.

5. ELI
Hello. Hello, Rabbi. Please come
in. Sit down.
As the rabbi walks in, Eli motions to his wife to leave them
alone. She rolls her eyes and closes the door.
The rabbi sits in the chair next to Eli’s desk.
Eli opens a drawer and pulls out two shot glasses and a
flask. He pours them both a drink.
RABBI
Am Yisrael Chai.
ELI
Am Yisrael Chai.
INT. SENOR WAGNER’S COTTAGE - DAY
Neat and tidy. A main room with a small stove, table, chairs
and a phonograph on a rod iron end table. A window above the
sink has gingham curtains open, allowing a view of the lake.
In the back is a door, open to the bedroom. Visible in the
back room is an iron bed and a foot-long, heavy, pewter
crucifix hanging above it.
Senor Wagner sits at the table, inspecting all sides of the
package. He gets up, opens a bottle of red wine, pours
himself a glass, gets a knife and sits back down at the
table.
He opens the package and reveals the mirror and card Eli put
together.
He reads the card and sets it down. He takes a long drink of
wine and stares at the mirror, without looking into it, or
touching it. He takes another drink.
INT. OFFICE - DAY
Eli pours the rabbi and himself two more shots.
RABBI
When?
ELI
By this morning. God forgive us.
4.

6. INT. SENOR WAGNER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Senor Wagner is asleep. On the nightstand is the wine glass
and bottle, both empty. Through the doorway, we can see that
the package with the mirror is still on the table.
VOICE (O.C.)
Doctor.
(beat)
Doctor.
Senor Wagner wakes.
VOICE (O.C.)
Doctor.
SENOR WAGNER
Who’s there? Is someone there?
He gets up, picks up the wine bottle, holding it as a weapon
and walks into the:
MAIN ROOM
Although the room is dim, there is a slight glow from the box
on the table.
VOICE
(coming from the box)
Doctor. Doctor Rascher. We need
you.
He drops the bottle, runs to his:
BEDROOM
And closes the door. He grabs the crucifix off the wall,
kneels next to the bed and prays in German.
CUT TO:
INT. SENOR WAGNER’S BEDROOM - MORNING
Still clutching the crucifix, he’s asleep on the ground, next
to his bed. He wakes up, hangs the cross back up and walks
into the...
MAIN ROOM
Determined, he picks up the box with the mirror and walks...
OUTSIDE
5.

7. And to the side of his cottage where the garbage bin is. He
opens the bin and forcefully tosses the box and mirror in.
On his way back to the front of his cottage, he runs into
ESPERANZA, 50s and carrying cleaning supplies in a bucket.
SENOR WAGNER
Oh, Esperanza! You startled me.
ESPERANZA
Up late this morning, Senor Wagner.
SENOR WAGNER
Yes. I’ll be back in a few hours.
Don’t forget to iron my shirts this
time.
ESPERANZA
No senor. I won’t.
EXT. LAKE - DAY
Senor Wagner sits in a rowboat, holding a fishing rod and
nodding off and on. His cottage is visible in the distance.
INT. SENOR WAGNER’S COTTAGE - DUSK
Esperanza sweeps the floor.
Senor Wagner drops some trout in the sink, rinses his hands
and walks back to his bedroom. The door to his bedroom is
closed. He opens it, revealing the crucifix on the bed and
the mirror hanging on the wall.
SENOR WAGNER
Esperanza!
She drops the broom and runs back.
ESPERANZA
All of them senor. They are all
hanging up. I didn’t forget.
SENOR WAGNER
No! That!
He points to the mirror.
ESPERANZA
I don’t understand, senor.
SENOR WAGNER
Why did you hang that up?
6.

8. ESPERANZA
Not me senor. That was there when
I got here. I even cleaned it for
you. It’s nice. You buy it?
SENOR WAGNER
Leave. Go home. I’ll see you next
week.
ESPERANZA
Si, senor.
EXT. LAKE - DUSK
Senor Wagner rows the boat with all the strength and old man
can muster. In front of him sits the mirror, face down.
VOICE
(from the mirror)
Doctor Rascher. We need you.
Doctor Rascher. Come back.
He stops rowing, in the middle of the lake. He gathers every
gram of courage in his ancient bones and stretches out the
thousand miles to the mirror. Picks it up and throws it down
into the lake and it sinks instantly.
Senor Wagner collapses in the boat.
EXT. SENOR WAGNER’S COTTAGE - NIGHT
He opens the front door and walks in, exhausted. The door to
his room is closed. He looks at it. Not yet.
He opens a bottle of wine and starts to pour when...
VOICE (O.S.)
Doctor. Come back. Doctor
Rascher. We need you back.
He drops the bottle, and as the wine pours down the table to
the floor, he stumbles to the door, opens it and walks in.
INT. SENOR WAGNER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
The mirror is back, hanging above the bed, with the crucifix
arranged on the pillow. Light emanates from the mirror.
Transfixed, he walks to it and the door slams behind him.
Through the mirror, like a window, we see a Nazi Commandant
and a concentration camp behind him.
7.

9. Ghostly JEWS float around him, staring out of the mirror at
Senor Wagner. Or at least it seems that way, but none of
them have eyes, just empty sockets.
COMMANDANT
Doctor Rascher. You have been most
negligent in your duties. We need
you back. There is much work
still.
SENOR WAGNER
No. You’re dead. You’re all dead.
Leave me alone!
Senor Wagner grabs the crucifix off the bed and turns back to
the mirror. It’s gone.
SENOR WAGNER
Thank God.
COMMANDANT (O.S.)
God no longer cares for you,
doctor.
Senor Wagner turns to see the Commandant in his bedroom. The
apparition grabs him by the neck and pulls Senor Wagner’s
face within an inch of his own face.
Instantly, the Commandant’s face decays to one who’s been
decomposing slowly for sixty years and Senor Wagner faints.
The Commandant drops him to the ground.
CLOSE ON SENOR WAGNER’S FACE
The moonlight turns to dim daylight and his eyes open. He
SCREAMS and then we see what he sees.
EXT. CONCENTRATION CAMP - DAY
It’s day, maybe, but the sky is completely grey and mist
moves about the camp. Everywhere, eyeless, Jewish ghosts
float around aimlessly.
Senor Wagner lays on the ground, horrified.
The Commandant reaches a mummified hand down and pulls him to
his feet.
COMMANDANT
Welcome back, doctor.
SENOR WAGNER
Why? Why am I here?
8.

10. COMMANDANT
You never really left.
Next to the Commandant stand ten Nazi officers, just as
decayed as their leader.
The Commandant shoves him along and they walk towards a
cinder block bunker ahead. All around, the ghosts watch
them. They reach the front door to the building.
COMMANDANT
Open it. They’re waiting.
Senor Wagner trembles uncontrollably.
The Commandant grabs his right hand and places it on the door
knob.
SMASH CUT TO:
MONTAGE
Each sequence goes at fast speed, with no sound and only
lasts a second, at most.
1) Senor Wagner, sixty years younger, in a lab coat,
supervises Jews being led into gas chambers.
2) He laughs and clinks glasses with Nazi officers at a
banquet.
3) He watches as a train arrives at the camp, and the
prisoners are led out.
4) He inspects a line of gaunt, naked men, choosing some but
not others.
5) Another banquet with the officers, where they all fondle
scared, Jewish, women prisoners.
6) He cuts into the abdomen of a naked, screaming prisoner,
bound with leather straps to a metal table.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. - DR. RASCHER’S LAB
A stark room of cement. In the middle is the same metal
table with leather straps at both ends. Besides it stands
the young Senor Wagner/Dr. Rascher, just as in the montage.
Around the perimeter stand twenty or thirty Nazi guards.
9.

11. The old version of himself falls to his knees, next to the
Commandant.
The Commandant motions to his undead officers and two of them
pick up Old Senor Wagner/Dr. Rascher and carry him to the
metal table. They get no resistance.
YOUNG SENOR WAGNER/DR. RASCHER
You made it. At last you made it.
Sixty years is a long time to wait.
Old Senor Wagner/Dr. Rascher looks up at his younger self and
the face melts away, leaving behind putrefied flesh.
COMMANDANT
I’ll leave you to your work doctor.
I know you have a lot to do.
OLD SENOR WAGNER/DR. RASCHER
No. Don’t leave. Don’t leave me.
Please.
COMMANDANT
Oh, but I leave you in good hands.
The best hands!
YOUNG SENOR WAGNER/DR. RASCHER
Indeed. Shall we?
The young doctor holds up a scalpel and gets to work on the
old doctor.
The Commandant walks out, smiling at the SCREAMS.
INT. OFFICE - DAY
Eli closes a manila file folder, but before he does we catch
a glimpse of an official photo showing young doctor Rascher.
The tab on the folder reads “Wagner/Rascher”. Eli blacks out
the name with a permanent marker, walks to a filing cabinet
and puts it away.
He opens a drawer on a different cabinet and pulls out a
folder. He walks to his desk and sets it down.
Next to it is THE MIRROR.
FADE OUT
10.