A Starry Night By: Emily Huang
December 17, 2021
INT. SAN FRANCISCO APARTMENT - NIGHT Through the panoramic window, thousands of stars peek through the sky. HO FENG SHAN, an older man with a kind face and half-lit cigar, stares into the night. Photos, ink, and paper are strewn on his desk. A doorbell rings. Ho raises his wristwatch with a quizzical brow. He looks through the peephole. The peephole reveals EMILY, a young Chinese girl. EMILY Good evening Dr. Ho. With a mysterious curiosity, Ho opens the door and motions her in. EMILY (CONT'D) I come from the future. I have some questions for you. Ho leads Emily to the couch. They sit. EMILY (CONT'D) In your biography that will soon be published, there is no mention of your work during World War II. Yet, you saved five thousand Jews during the Holocaust. HO I did what I felt was necessary. I felt compassion and empathy, two very human emotions. Ho puts out his cigar. EMILY Yet, your impact was enormous. You encapsulate the words "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire" from the Talmud and the Chinese proverb “救人一命，勝造七級浮屠.” The dense, acrid cigar smoke wafts in the air.
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INT. HOUSE - JERUSALEM - DAWN Steam from a delicate teacup evaporates into the hazy sunset. LILITH-SYLVIA DORON, an older woman with grayish hair sits on a couch reading. KARL, an older man with glasses sits beside her. Ho and Emily stand on the lawn looking in through the living room window. HO Where are we? EMILY Look closely. Ho studies their faces. His eyes widen with recognition. HO Oh -- the siblings. I used to visit them during the war. We lost contact after I gave them visas. EMILY Because of you, they survived the war and made Aliyah. EXT. RITZ CARLTON HOTEL - VIENNA - DAWN EMILY Look. Over here. Emily points to a bronze and gold plaque on the wall. EMILY (CONT'D) Your daughter, Manli, revealed your story to the world. Why did you choose to keep your work private even after? HO My morals were influenced by my education at the College of Yale in China. There, I learned about the Christian principles of unbiased love. My upbringing in China introduced me to Confucius, who also came from a poor family. We have an obligation to keep each other alive... I believe there is no reason to flaunt about saving others. We are interconnected
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beings. Ho turns around. Emily is gone. Ho looks at the plaque. In the reflection on the bronze surface, Lilith's face appears. Then a crowd, some old and some young, stand hand in hand behind her. Ho turns around. BACK TO: INT. APARTMENT - SAN FRANCISCO - NIGHT Seated at his table, Ho’s eyes snap open. He bewilderedly looks around the room and settles his eyes on his reflection in the living room window. Something catches his eyes. Through the window, five thousand stars in the sky blink back at him. Ho takes his pen and begins writing. FADE OUT