NARRATOR: The home of Mr. Gregory West, one of America's most noted playwrights.

DISSOLVE TO:

A large, comfortable OFFICE in the large, comfortable house. A big desk sits beside a big window.

NARRATOR: The office of Mr. Gregory West.

A large, comfortable man -- not too handsome but a man of intelligence -- sits on a sofa away from the desk. This is GREGORY WEST who wears a jaunty moustache, a necktie, a large, comfortable sweater -- and a grin.

NARRATOR: Mr. Gregory West -- shy, quiet, and at the moment very happy.

Gregory grins at the source of his happiness: a smiling, radiant blonde who wears a plain blouse with an old-fashioned brooch. She mixes a drink.

NARRATOR: Mary -- warm, affectionate.

They regard one another lovingly.

MARY: You really should be working, you know.

GREGORY: You're nagging me.

MARY: I'm only thinking of posterity.

GREGORY: Think of me instead.

MARY: Don't I always?

GREGORY (nods happily): Yes, you do.

Mary tastes the drink.

GREGORY: Dry enough?

MARY: We'll let the master decide.

Mary hands the glass to Gregory who drinks. She waits eagerly for his response. After a swallow, he toasts her.

GREGORY: Perfect -- as always.

MARY: Are you describing yourself, Mister West?

GREGORY: Let the mistress decide.

MARY: She's decided.

Mary joins Gregory on the sofa. He puts an arm around her and kisses her forehead. Gregory and Mary fail to see a figure appear in the window by the desk. The figure of a woman.

NARRATOR: And the final ingredient...

The stylishly-dressed brunette at the window stares in shock at the couple on the sofa.

NARRATOR: Mrs. Gregory West.

VICTORIA WEST, appalled, wraps her fur coat a little tighter around herself and heads for the front door as the unsuspecting couple cuddle. Gregory offers Mary a sip of his drink and they smile. But at the sound of the front door OPENING, a dark look crosses Gregory's face. Mary watches with consternation as he rises. He pauses to listen for a moment, near the office door.

VICTORIA'S VOICE: Gregory?!

Startled, Gregory drops his glass. It SHATTERS on the floor. A distraught Mary rises and grabs him by the shoulders.

MARY (pleading): Greg. Not again.

GREGORY: I have to.

VICTORIA'S VOICE: Gregory, I'm home, darling!

MARY: No, Greg.

GREGORY: What else can I do?

VICTORIA: Are you working?

MARY: Are you so afraid?

Gregory breaks away from her and crosses to his desk. Mary puts her hands to her face and walks over to the office's burning fireplace, opposite the desk.

Victoria KNOCKS at the door.

VICTORIA'S VOICE: I hope I'm not interrupting you.

On the opposite side of the locked office DOOR, Victoria continues to KNOCK.

VICTORIA: Darling! I'll only be a moment, I just want to come in and... kiss you.

Victoria grins horribly. She knows she's got him trapped.

Meanwhile, in the OFFICE, Gregory, with scissors in hand, backs away from the fireplace towards the office door. He pauses to stare at something in the direction of the fireplace and then, satisfied, turns and unlocks the office door. Victoria bursts in, eager for a confrontation.

GREGORY: Well, I didn't expect you --

Victoria stops short. And stares. At the empty sofa. At the empty half of the office with the fireplace. At the empty half of the office with the desk. The office is empty: Mary is nowhere to be seen.

GREGORY: 'S'matter, dear? Somethin' wrong?

Standing by the door, Gregory smiles a little smugly. A confused Victoria removes her fancy hat and continues to look around for any sign of her husband's mistress.

FADE OUT

FADE IN on the OFFICE, a moment later. Gregory regards a sheepish but dogged Victoria who immediately begins to search the room.

GREGORY: How come you're home so early, dear? Didn't you like the movie?

VICTORIA: No, not very much.

Gregory pretends to nonchalantly adjust the tape recorder on his desk while Victoria just as casually roams the room, inspecting it for secret exits.

VICTORIA: I just decided I'd come home early. Have you, uh -- been busy?

GREGORY: Oh, yes, yes. (off the tape recorder) I got quite a bit done.

VICTORIA: Did you? (off the broken glass on floor) Oh, I see you dropped a glass.

GREGORY: Oh, yeah.

Victoria continues her inspection of the room.

GREGORY: You looking for something, dear?

VICTORIA: No. No, I, er, I just thought I'd see if your room needed to be cleaned.

GREGORY: I don't think so.

Victoria TAPS on the wall.

GREGORY: What are you doing, dear? Honey, what are you doing?

VICTORIA: Hmmm? Oh, I, um, uh, checking the wall.

GREGORY: Oh.

Gregory opens a drawer in his desk to put away his scissors.

VICTORIA: What's that?

Guiltily, Gregory throws the scissors into the drawer, then recovers himself.

GREGORY: Oh.

Gregory holds up the scissors to her and CLICKS them a few times.

GREGORY (grins stupidly): My scissors.

Victoria grins back at him. They are playing cat-and-mouse. She walks to a far wall as he pretends to inspect his tape recorder again.

VICTORIA: Gregory...

GREGORY: Mm hmm?

VICTORIA: You wouldn't by any chance have a, uh, a secret door in here, would you?

GREGORY: A secret door?

VICTORIA: That's what I said, darling. Secret door.

GREGORY: Well, now what on earth would I want with a secret door in here?

VICTORIA (ironic): Yes, whatever on earth for?

Gregory sits at the desk. Victoria, crouching low, sneaks up behind him and peers under the desk with an intense look on her face. Gregory looks down at her.

GREGORY: Are you all right, Victoria?

VICTORIA: Hm? (rises) Oh, well, I don't know, I'm not too sure.

GREGORY: Really?

VICTORIA: As a matter of fact, I think I may be suffering from hallucinations.

GREGORY (puts a comforting hand on her): Oh, you poor dear.

VICTORIA (crosses to the window): You know, it's the strangest thing but I was just standing outside this window only a moment ago, right here.

GREGORY (realizes she's seen Mary): You were?

VICTORIA: Yes, I was. And you'll never guess what I saw through that window, Gregory. Or at least, you'll never guess what I thought I saw.

GREGORY (lying through his teeth): I couldn't possibly guess.

VICTORIA: I thought I saw a woman in your arms.

They both begin to laugh, slowly at first, but it builds into a roar throughout the following dialogue as they leave the desk and cross to the sofa.

GREGORY: Did you?

VICTORIA: Yes, isn't that just too ridiculous?

GREGORY: Yes, yes.

VICTORIA: Oh, listen, wouldn't you like to have me describe her to you?

GREGORY (sits on the sofa): Well....

VICTORIA: Oh, let me, let me. She had, uh, masses of blonde hair, and she wore one of those frumpy little blouses with a kind of a tacky little brooch at the bosom, and one of those dreadful sort of peasant skirts. But the funny thing was that she handed you a drink.

Victoria has joined Gregory on the sofa.

GREGORY: Oh, such detail. It's quite remarkable.

Their laughter subsides.

VICTORIA: Yes, isn't it? Of course, if I had thought about it, darling, well, I... I would have realized how ridiculous it was. (she starts to flatter him, he drops his guard) I mean, I would have realized if I had thought about it for a minute that a man of your grace and extraordinary taste couldn't possibly be interested in such a drab, ugly, little creature.

GREGORY: Oh, she's not so drab.

Gregory realizes he's just blown it. Victoria nearly explodes.

VICTORIA: Ah ha! Didn't think I'd be home so early, did you? Didn't think I'd be home the whole afternoon, did you? Thought you had me fooled, didn't you? Well, let me tell you something, Gregory West, I've had my eye on you for some time now. Didn't think I suspected the real reason for why you were always sending me out of the house on one pretext and another, did you? I must be alone to work, you said -- the great and famous playwright! The great and famous philanderer!

Gregory scrambles off the sofa to avoid her wrath and stands in front of the fireplace.

GREGORY: Now, Victoria! Look, I can explain -- It's so simple.

VICTORIA: All right, now you tell me where she is. Where is she?

GREGORY: Look, I can explain everything. Do you remem --

VICTORIA: Go ahead.

GREGORY: Well, now, wait. Do you remember my play, Fury in the Night?

VICTORIA (can't believe his pathetic attempt to change the subject): Oooohhhhhh, yes.

GREGORY: Dear, do you remember it? You remember the character Philip Wainwright?

VICTORIA (rises and confronts him): Gregory, just tell me one thing, what's her name?

GREGORY: What?

VICTORIA (slaps his face): What's her name?

GREGORY: Mary! But that doesn't --

VICTORIA: Mary! How common.

GREGORY: Oh, now, Victoria, please. Victoria, just sit down here and listen to me. Let me explain.

Gregory guides her into a chair by the fire.

VICTORIA: I'm listening.

GREGORY: You know how sometimes I've told you that fictional characters come alive? They come alive so vividly that they make decisions of their own. A playwright may have worked out some kind of move for them but they refuse to do it. They will not accept anybody's -- they become so strong that sometimes they take over the whole story.

VICTORIA: Gregory, I hardly see that this has any --

GREGORY: Please bear with me, Victoria.

VICTORIA (acidly): I've borne with you for years.

GREGORY: Philip Wainwright was the first one of my play characters to ever behave like that. No matter what I had planned for him, he balked. He refused. He wouldn't accept any of my decisions. He became alive. With a will of his own. You understand?

VICTORIA: I understand that you're trying to change the subject.

GREGORY: I'm not. This is the subject. Philip Wainwright became alive. One night, while I was working here, right -- right up here in my office...

Gregory back-pedals to the desk and points to it, then at the door.

GREGORY: Philip Wainwright walked in through that door.

VICTORIA: Oh, Greg, now really!

GREGORY: Victoria, you've got to believe me. He walked in right through that door. He came in here and he sat down in that chair. (points to a chair near her) A live, real flesh and blood man. (a little proudly) And I created him.

VICTORIA (thinks he's crazy): Oh, my.

Victoria rises, moves to a nearby telephone, and picks up the receiver.

GREGORY: What are you doing?

VICTORIA: I am afraid a psychiatrist is next on the agenda.

Gregory puts his hand on the phone to kill the line.

GREGORY: You've got to believe me, Victoria. Characters in my plays do come alive. I've seen them, I've talked to them. I've even shaken hands with them.

VICTORIA: You even made love to them, remember?

GREGORY: Ye-e-es --

She SLAMS the receiver down on his hand.

GREGORY: I mean, no! Look, you know how I work. (crosses to desk and picks up the tape recorder's microphone) I dictate dialogue and stage business into the tape recorder. I describe any character I want. And if I do it well enough... they come to life. To life, Victoria! And I don't have to describe the characters in my plays anymore. I can describe any character I want.

VICTORIA: You should be put away.

Victoria heads for the door but Gregory intercepts her.

GREGORY: Now, you said that you saw Mary here, right?

VICTORIA: Oh, I saw her here, all right.

GREGORY: Then how did she get out?

VICTORIA: That's what I'm trying to find out.

Gregory leads her back to the center of the room.

GREGORY (gestures to the window): She could not have gone out through the window. (gestures to the wall) You know there are no secret doors in here. But I'm going to show you how she got out of here, because I want you to understand.

Gregory pats her on the cheek and moves to the desk. He opens the drawer, pulls out his scissors, and holds them up grandly. He pantomimes the action described in the following dialogue while Victoria looks on in disbelief.

GREGORY: I take my scissors. I snip off the part of the tape on which she is described. I roll the tape into a little ball. I throw it into the fireplace. She's gone! (snaps his fingers) Uncreated.

VICTORIA: I'm going to have you committed.

Victoria heads for the door. Gregory again rushes to intercept her.

GREGORY: You've got to believe me now, you've got to.

Gregory locks the office door.

VICTORIA: What do you think you're doing?

GREGORY: Just a minute, I'm trying to save our marriage.

Gregory pockets the key and returns to the desk.

VICTORIA: Don't waste your time.

GREGORY (picks up the microphone): I can describe a dog or a cat or any character you want. But I'm sure you would prefer to see Mary and I've created Mary so many times, she'll be much more available.

VICTORIA: I'll just bet she is. Give me the key, Gregory.

GREGORY (almost reverently, into the mike) Her name... is Mary.

The reels on the tape recorder spin. Gregory continues speaking into the mike, so caught up in the act of creation that he fails to sense Victoria as she sneaks up behind him and fishes the key out of his sweater pocket.

GREGORY (into the mike): She's thirty years old. A tender, gentle woman. An understanding woman. She's dressed...

Victoria retrieves the key and moves to the door, silently unlocking it.

GREGORY (into the mike): ...in a soft blouse, old-fashioned brooch, full skirt. Her hair is attractively arranged. She's coming up the front walk. She's crossing the porch.

Victoria opens the door slightly, then pauses. She hears something odd.

GREGORY (into the mike): She's opening the front door.

The front door OPENS.

GREGORY (into the mike): She's closing it.

The front door CLOSES.

GREGORY (into the mike): She's walking across the hall.

FOOTSTEPS down the hall. Mary's shadow appears, followed by Mary herself who arrives at the doorway with a big smile on her face -- she's happy to see Gregory. But as she enters the door, she comes face to face with Victoria. The two women are stunned and stare in shock at Gregory who merely smiles at them both. Mary recovers first.

MARY (very polite): Good afternoon, Mrs. West. Mary looks at Gregory, clearly confused. Victoria looks at Gregory but it's hard to know what she's thinking.

FADE OUT

FADE IN, same scene, moments later. Mary enters the room completely.

MARY: There's nothing to be afraid of, Mrs. West.

GREGORY: Do you believe me now, Victoria?

Victoria calmly shuts the office door.

VICTORIA: I'll tell you what I believe, Gregory. I believe this is some sort of fiendish plot. You-you-you let her out of here through a secret door, then you tell me this ridiculous story about bringing characters to life. Then you lock the door and pretend to bring her back to life. Then she comes in the front door and tries to make me believe that-- You are trying to drive me insane, Gregory. You want to have me committed.

GREGORY (protests): The only reason I did this was because you were going to have me committed.

VICTORIA: You want to have me committed so that you can get all of our property. So, that you can share our property with this, this, this -- (gestures at Mary)

GREGORY: I just wanted to show you.

MARY (genuinely hurt, to Gregory): Is that why you brought me? Just to show her?

GREGORY: Now, please, try to understand, Mary. After all, Victoria is my wife.

VICTORIA: Not any longer, I'm not. Not after this diabolic conspiracy.

GREGORY: Oh, now, Victoria, can't I do anything right?

VICTORIA: No!

MARY (quietly): You haven't answered me, Greg.

GREGORY (ignores Mary): You don't really believe that I want to have--

VICTORIA: Yes!

Victoria heads for the door.

GREGORY: Here we go again!

Once more, Gregory intercepts her, locks the door, pockets the key, and heads back to the desk.

VICTORIA: You let me out of here, you monster. Gregory West, you let me out of here or I'm going to scream. I promise you I'm going to scream.

The two women have followed Gregory to the desk where, scissors in hand, he makes ready to cut the tape.

GREGORY (to Victoria): What for?

MARY (upset, to Gregory): Again?

Gregory cuts the tape.

MARY: Why do you do this to me, Greg?

GREGORY: Oh, I'm sorry, Mary, but (glancing at a confused Victoria) what else can I do?

MARY (protests): I just got here, Greg.

GREGORY: What else can I do?

MARY: That's all you ever say.

Gregory turns to Victoria as he balls up the tape and moves towards the fireplace with it.

GREGORY (sardonic, to Victoria): Wouldn't believe me, huh? You just gotta make me show you, huh? You gotta make me force poor Mary to leave again. Victoria, sometimes I wonder.

MARY (quietly, with conviction): Don't bring me back again, Greg.

GREGORY (stunned): M-Mary!

MARY: Just... don't. I can't bear it any longer.

GREGORY (genuinely upset): Oh.

Gregory glances at a disbelieving Victoria.

GREGORY: Forgive me, Mary. But she is my wife.

Victoria smiles and nods in amusement at all this. Gregory turns to the fireplace and throws the balled-up tape into the fire. The fire FLARES up briefly and, as Gregory and Victoria watch, Mary simply vanishes into thin air. An astonished Victoria turns to Gregory.

VICTORIA: Where is she?

GREGORY: I told you.

Victoria rushes to the spot where Mary disappeared.

VICTORIA: Where is she?

GREGORY: You still don't believe me, huh?

VICTORIA: Gregory, where did she go?

GREGORY: I told you. I... (snaps his fingers) uncreated her.

Victoria shuts her eyes -- she can't believe what she's just seen.

VICTORIA: Oh, dear.

She puts a hand to her head. Gregory embraces her.

GREGORY: Don't you worry. We won't let it happen anymore. I promise you I won't do it again. The only reason I did it the first time was that... well, I was lonely. Oh, don't you see, Victoria? You're so perfect.

As he holds her close to him, she once again reaches into his sweater pocket and steals the key to the office door.

GREGORY: ... You're so impeccable, you're so flawless, and... Well, I just felt inferior. I wouldn't've created Mary... I didn't create her to insult you. I was lonely, that's was all. I wanted somebody to talk to.

VICTORIA (mildly ironic): Aw.

GREGORY (crosses to the desk): Someone that I'd felt comfortable with. Not like a worm. Well, you understand, don't you?

VICTORIA (ironic): Oh, yes. I understand.

At the desk, Gregory fixes the tape in the tape recorder.

GREGORY: Fine. We'll work it out. We'll work it out somehow. It's just that I -- I feel so inadequate compared with you. Of course, that's really my fault. I guess I should have --

He looks up. Victoria's gone. She's moved to the office door which she now unlocks. She turns to him intently.

VICTORIA: Now, don't try to stop me, Gregory.

GREGORY: Where're you going?

VICTORIA: I'm going to the nearest lawyer and I'm going to have you put away for the rest of your unnatural life. Away from tape recorders and away from me. I'm going to live all by myself in perfect peace and harmony in this house, free of your diseased mind.

GREGORY: No, Victoria!

VICTORIA: Yes, Victoria.

Gregory realizes she isn't kidding.

GREGORY: I believe you. Well, I guess there's nothing else to do.

Gregory crosses to a bookcase by the fireplace. With a wicked grin, he moves some books to reveal a wall safe.

VICTORIA: How long has that been there?

Gregory opens the safe.

GREGORY (casually): Oh, ever since you and I were... married.

He reaches into the safe and pulls out an envelope. Pleased with himself, he confronts Victoria.

VICTORIA: What is that?

He hands her the envelope.

VICTORIA: What is this supposed to mean?

He takes the envelope from her. On the outside of the envelope is printed the name VICTORIA WEST. Gregory opens the envelope and pulls out the contents: a tangled mass of tape. Victoria smiles at this as Gregory returns the tape to the envelope.

GREGORY: Now, Victoria, shall I put this back in the safe? Or shall I throw it in the fire?

VICTORIA (amused): Gregory, you're not seriously trying to make me believe --

GREGORY: I am telling you, Victoria. Look at yourself. Regal. Beautiful. You could have any man in the world that you wanted. (grins) Haven't you ever wondered how you happened to get stuck with me?

Victoria nods pointedly.

GREGORY: Well, I'm telling you. You're impeccable. Flawless. You're just the sort of wife that... I always used to think I wanted more than anything else in the world.

At this last thought, he lowers his head.

VICTORIA: Is this another one of your tawdry little tricks?

GREGORY: Now, why do you think I got so upset when you came back here a while ago? Not because of Mary. But because you came back against my will for the first time. For the first time.

VICTORIA: Do you think you're frightening me?

GREGORY (after a pause): No, I guess not. Oh, you're beyond that.

Victoria doesn't know quite what to make of that.

GREGORY: I made you too strong. I forgot to add a little human frailty. (resignedly) Well, I asked for it. (off the envelope) I'll put this back in the safe. I've got --

Victoria snatches the envelope out of his hand.

VICTORIA: Gregory. Would you like to know what I think of your childish nonsense? Hmm? This.

She throws the envelope into the fireplace. Gregory freaks.

GREGORY: Victoria!

Victoria starts to walk off as Gregory desperately tries to retrieve the envelope. Suddenly, she stops short and put her hand to her forehead. Gregory is unable to save the envelope and burns his hand.

VICTORIA: Oh, Greg. Greg, I feel so strange. I --

The envelope burns. Victoria looks on in horror.

VICTORIA: You -- you don't mean that you were telling me the truth?

The envelope has nearly burnt up -- and the tape along with it. She begins to fade away, exactly as Mary had done.

VICTORIA: You were right.

She completely disappears.

GREGORY: Victoria!

A panicked Gregory races across the room to his desk.

GREGORY (talking to himself): Now, I told her! I told her! She just wouldn't listen to me.

He snatches up the microphone, starts the tape recorder, and sits at the desk. He spins in his swivel chair to face the window, frantically trying to concentrate.

GREGORY (into the mike): Her name... Her name is Mrs. Victoria West...

A long pause. Gregory realizes something, leans back in the chair, and stares for a long moment at the tape recorder.

GREGORY (talking to himself): Why not leave well enough alone?

He stops the tape, rewinds it, and starts recording again.

GREGORY (reverently, into the mike): Her name... is Mary. Mrs. Mary West. She's thirty. Five feet, six inches tall. (rises and moves to the sofa) Blonde hair. Nicely built. Clear complexion. She's a plain, unassuming female. With that inner quality of loveliness that makes a woman truly beautiful. (sits) She is dressed in a soft, pink blouse, old-fashioned brooch, flowing skirt. Her hair is attractively arranged. She is in her husband's study, preparing him a drink.

Mary reappears, just as described. She smiles at him as she mixes his drink.

NARRATOR'S VOICE: We hope you enjoyed tonight's romantic story...

Sitting on the edge of Gregory's desk with the tape recorder in his hands is the omniscient narrator (series host Rod Serling) who addresses the audience directly.

NARRATOR: ... on the Twilight Zone. (Serling puts the recorder aside) At the same time, we want you to realize that it was, of course, purely fictional. In real life, such ridiculous nonsense could never --

At these last words, Gregory and Mary look up and stare at Serling.

GREGORY (surprised): Rod!

Gregory clucks his tongue, rises, crosses to the wall safe.

GREGORY (chiding): You shouldn't.

From the safe, Gregory removes an envelope clearly marked "Rod Serling" and opens it to reveal a tangled mass of tape. Serling doesn't like the looks of that.

GREGORY: You shouldn't say such things as "nonsense." And "ridiculous."

Serling watches uncertainly as Gregory places the envelope into the fire. After a moment, Serling turns to the audience.

NARRATOR: Well, that's the way it goes...

Rod Serling fades away into thin air, leaving Gregory and Mary alone. Gregory crosses back to the sofa and sits. Mary hands him a drink and joins him on the sofa where they sit happily in front of the fire.

NARRATOR'S VOICE: Leaving Mr. Gregory West, still shy, quiet, very happy... and apparently in complete control of the Twilight Zone.

PAN UP and DISSOLVE TO to a starry night sky and FADE OUT

++++++++++++++++++