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New York City. It was
Saturday night when
Thomas, 33, left his
one-bedroom on Carmine
Street in the West
Village and headed
directly to 6th Ave.
There, he walked up to
the dance club. A line
had already formed in
front of the door,
where a strong man who
seemed like Hulk Hogan,
wearing a shiny suit,
was selecting who could
enter and who had to
stay out of the place.
Thomas was holding an
invitation card, but
just as he approached
the door, the strong
man, i.e., the bouncer,
stopped him with his
big hand. Then, Thomas
tried to show the
invite under the light,
hoping that the strong
man would look at it.
The strong man looked
carefully at his
invitation card, and a
second later demanded
in a tenor voice, "Get
out of here! This party
ain't for you."
THOMAS: I want to enter.
THE BOUNCER: No. You're not coming in here.
THOMAS: Why?
THE BOUNCER: Because
this place will never
open its doors to a man
like you.
THOMAS: Hey, man! I
always tried my best to
earn this opportunity.
THE BOUNCER: No way. Not tonight!
THOMAS: Please?
THE BOUNCER: Never!
Thomas tried to run
inside, but the big
hands of the bouncer
grabbed him by the neck
and threw him onto the
sidewalk. Thomas looked
up and saw a group of
people entering the
club. So, he ran and
joined them. When
Thomas got next to the
door, the bouncer saw
him and immediately
punched him in the
back. The poor man
kissed the gutter
again. It was sad, but
Thomas never thought of
giving up, and
decisively, he got to
his feet and started
thinking of another way
to enter that place.
Then, he approached the
bouncer and tried a new
deal, offering his
watch in exchange for
entrance to the club.
Once again, the bouncer
refused and threatened
to hit him with his big
hand.
Two hours later, Thomas
had made every attempt
to enter the club, but
the bouncer blocked
them all.
THOMAS: Okay, okay. I
got it. You think the
power belongs to you,
huh? I need to tell you
something. I've got
permission from Him
(pointing up).
THE BOUNCER: Man, I
don't care if He likes
you… You won't be
here…
At that moment, the
bouncer put his hand on
his chest, cried out,
and fell to the ground.
A girl bent down,
checked the bouncer's
pulse, and before she
could say what had
happened, Thomas ran
inside the club.
In the club, he tried
to see the people's
faces, but because of
the low light, Thomas
couldn't see them
clearly. Suddenly,
however, the DJ stopped
the music, a bright
light lit up the entire
place, and he could see
the strange thing.
All the people, and
there were many inside
the club, had his face.
Everyone, including the
DJ, the waiters, the
girls, and the guys,
had the same face as
him. It was as if all
those people were him.
Then, after this
discovery, Thomas ran
away from there. As he
passed the entrance, he
no longer saw the
bouncer, only the
blaring siren of an
ambulance moving onto
6th Ave. He looked in
all directions, and all
the people outside the
club had his face, too.
Terrified, he started
to run and tried not to
look at anyone's face
anymore.
Thomas arrived at his
apartment, sweaty and
panting. He hurried to
the bathroom and looked
in the mirror.
Unfortunately, he did
not recognize himself;
his reflection showed
another man… a
man Thomas would never
be.
END
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