"(? "theme from the twilight zone"?" ")" "(heartbeat)" "wish you were staying in town a little longer, aunt dorothy." "jeffrey's dying to meet you." "i'mdying for him to meet you." "i wish i had the chance to visit, too." "why don't you bring him with you next time you come to vermont?" "i know he'd love it, but i don't want to be a hassle." "oh, it's no hassle." "when i was still teaching, i used to have my students up for the weekend all the time." "i actually miss the company something... aunt dorothy?" "what?" "that man." "no, it couldn't be." "who is it?" "two women." "a man." "a chase down library steps." "and so our story begins." "like life, all stories have a beginning, middle and end, but the distances between beginning and end, between story and life, can sometimes be deceptive-- especially when viewed through the shifting prisms of the twilight zone." "come on." "who is that man?" "it just may be someone i knew very many years ago." "oh, it was..." "the fall of 1933." "i was fresh out of college, just 22." "i was taking my first teaching assignment in a small appalachian town-- powder ridge, west virginia." "here you go, ma'am." "thank you." "you shouldn't put all your shoes in one bag." "not shoes. books." "woman:" "miss livingston." "yes, i'm dorothy livingston." "you must be mrs.... dockweiller, roberta." "a pleasure to meet you." "nice to meet you, too." "man:" "you best give that here, son." "do as the gentleman says, william." "i didn't realize you'd be leaving so soon." "i have so many questions." "my sister's baby isn't willing to wait." "don't worry. there is nothing you need to know that isn't in the notes i left you on my desk." "ready to board." "don't worry." "these three months are going to fly by." "by the time i get back, you'll wish i had stayed away forever." "something else not covered in my notes." "something important." "there's a boy-- a primary grader." "his name is mica-- mica frost." "he'll want to use the library very often." "you mustnever deny him access to the library." "never." "you understand?" "yes, mother. it's very clean." "and the bed is firm." "i checked first thing." "listen, i'm going to have to go soon." "this is very expensive." "i know. i miss our after-supper talks, too." "i'll call you first thing next sunday and let you know how everything went. okay?" "i will." "i love you, too." "very much. very much." "good night, mother." "bye." "(children yelling)" "all right, everyone!" "everyone simmer down now!" "simmer down!" "all right, come on!" "take your seats!" "all right!" "okay." "daniel ellidge?" "present." "okay." "nathaniel ellidge." "present." "okay." "uh... mica frost." "present." "okay. uh... jennifer hayes." "dorothy:" "while the expanding colonies were growing wealthy and independent, britain maintained that the colonies existed solely for it's own profit, and were to be tightly ruled by the king and parliament back in england." "up until 1763, however, control over the colonies was fairly lax." "but, after france was defeated in the french and indian wars, britain decided to restore control and tax the colonies to help pay for the war." "in addition to numerous new taxes imposed on the colonists, a standing army was to be sent to america to be quartered at colonial expense, and settlement beyond your own appalachian mountains was forbidden." "mica frost." "mica frost?" "yes, ma'am?" "can you tell me the natural border the british chose beyond which colonial settlement was forbidden?" "no, ma'am, i can't." "i just mentioned it a moment ago." "the appalachians." "i suggest you put your other work aside for later, and listen to the lesson at hand." "in 1765..." "(sighs)" "mica." "mica." "time to go home." "hi, miss livingston." "hi." "(no audio)" "(no audio)" "so, in order to add the two fractions, we must first determine the common denominator." "who'd like to try that for us?" "marcy." "mica?" "mica, uh... may i see you down here a minute?" "mica, i've been going over the school records." "as far as i can tell, mrs. dockweiller hasn't had a conference with your parents in quite some time." "i was wondering if you could shed some light on that." "my parents died in an accident in our truck more than a year ago." "i'm sorry. uh... who's taking care of you?" "there's just me and my grandfather now." "i see." "would you ask your grandfather if he could stop by some afternoon soon?" "i'd like to talk to him." "no. he... he..." "he couldn't." "he's got too much to do." "i see." "please tell him, then, that i'll stop by and see him soon." "you can't do that." "mica... just write a note." "that's what mrs. dockweiller does." "i promise he'll read it." "that won't do in this case." "you can't see him." "you can't!" ""...and the princess heard the lion in the brambles," ""but she couldn't see it." ""but she knew it was hungry, and she knew it was coming closer to her."" ""...and, as the sun disappeared behind the mountains," ""the forest grew very dark," ""and the princess heard the lion in the brambles," ""but she couldn't see it." ""but she knew it was hungry, and she knew it was coming closer to her."" "good night, granddad." "good night." "(crashing sound)" "how much did you hear?" "just the very last." "mica, i apologize." "when... when i stepped up here, it was not my intention to eavesdrop." "mica, why don't you tell me what's going on?" "that man in there?" "the man i call my grandfather?" "yes?" "well, he's not my grandfather." "he's my great-great- great-grandfather." "born in 1793." "he's 141 years old." "mica... i've never heard of anyone-- well, anyone outside of the bible-- living past 110." "how...?" "i keep him alive." "like my daddy did." "and my daddy's dad." "and his daddy before him." "i keep him alive by... by... by telling him stories." "stories?" "(sighs) not whole stories." "but stories left in the middle." "left that... so he's got to stay alive." "got to live till the next day to find out what happens." "mica, stories don't keep someone alive." "but... but they do." "every night, i finish the story from the night before." "then i start a new one-- always leaving off at some middle spot." "some spot where he's aching to know what's going to happen next." "i used to sit with my daddy when he told stories." "he told me to listen, too." "and learn, because, in ten years or so, it was going to be my turn." "then he and mama died out on old simpson bridge." "it came to be up to me that very day." "has been ever since." "you make up a story all by yourself every day?" "got to." "mica, even if it is your stories that keep him alive, everybody has their time here on earth." "wouldn't it be wrong to keep such an old man alive in such a way?" "i remember lying in bed lots of nights hearing my mama argue about that same thing with my daddy." "but my daddy always said that, as long as granddad was clearheaded and comfortable, well, it was unthinkable for us-- well, his family-- not to do everything we could to keep him with us." "now that's my responsibility." "like it was my daddy's." "i'm the man of the house now." "ow!" "miss livingston, there's been an accident!" "come quick!" "let me through." "boy:" "he fell out of the tree." "i heard him hit with a loud crack." "all right, now, mica, i want you to... i want you to lay as still as you can." "all right?" "ow!" "my arm!" "just lay still, and we'll get help." "russell, run into town and get the doctor." "tell him..." "tell him i sent you, and that it's an emergency." "it's all right." "it's all right." "it's all right." "you should stay quiet." "ow!" "let me go!" "let me go!" "ow!" "i got to go home!" "looks like a compound break." "may set easy, and it may not." "i'm going to suggest he stay the night with my wife and me so i can keep an eye on him." "will you let his folks know?" "yes, of course, doctor." "mica:" "miss livingston, please!" "thank you, doctor." "mica, it will be all right." "it's going to be all right." "(knocks)" "hello." "mr. frost." "yes?" "i'm dorothy livingston." "i'm mica's teacher." "oh, yes, he's mentioned you several times in the last few days." "uh... i've come because there's been an accident at school." "mica?" "he's all right." "he broke an arm in a fall from a tree." "apparently, it's nothing serious." "he's with the doctor." "that boy is quite a climber." "he's a real frost." "i've never met a male frost yet who wasn't most comfortable perched way up higher than anybody else." "did the doctor say what time the boy was likely to be home?" "he won't be coming home tonight, mr. frost." "he's going to be staying with the doctor and his wife until the morning." "(whispers:) no." "(audible breathing)" "(groans) you're still alive." "you didn't need the stories." "you didn't need the stories!" "dorothy:" "mica." "you dropped this yesterday when you fell." "i finished the story that you'd begun last night, and i began another one." "it's all in there." "but i didn't think that you believed." "i'm still not convinced that it's the stories that keep your great-great- great-grandfather alive, but i thought, just in case... i finished my three-month teaching assignment in powder ridge, gave all the books i had brought with me" "to mica as a gift, got on the bus and have never been back." "there have been a number of times over the past 50 years when i wondered just what became of that odd little boy and the old man." "and you think that man we're following is...?" "mica." "but, if the old man were 141 in 1933, he's have to be close to 200 now." "keep it." "thanks." "dorothy:" "and, as the woman watched, the door eased open very slowly... is the old man there?" "is he 200 years old?" "i can't say, mother." "not until tomorrow."