"Excuse me." "Mrs. Johnson?" "Nancy Johnson?" "Hi..." "Excuse me." "I don't." "I" "I..." "I'm Pat." "Pat Knowler." "I write for the Chicago Tribune." "I'm sorry, I..." "I don't have anything to say to you." "No." "You don't have to say anything, but please listen." "I specialize in long-form investigative reporting" "Yeah, I've read the headlines." "No." ""Michigan Miracle."" "No, that's not what I do." "I help people like Prairie tell their stories honestly and respectfully." "Do you know what would be respectful?" "To let me go on shopping." "I won the National Book Award for this." "I'm only trying to say that my work is not sensationalistic." "I spent eight months with that family." "I don't care." "Fifteen weeks on the USA Today Best-Seller list." "Jamie Price and his family are set for life." "Prairie... may never lead a normal life." "And she probably won't be able to get a job." "I bet you burned through your savings trying to find her." "It happens to every family like you." "We're fine." "Thank you for your time, but if you change your mind, my card is in there." "I fly out tomorrow." "Homer." "I'm sorry, I should have asked." "How long have you been a vegan?" "Oh, going on five years." "But it's not a political or spiritual decision." "Uh, more of a shift to wanting to take control of the kind of fuel that I..." "Honey, are you okay?" " Burn your mouth?" " No, it's just..." "This is so good." "Oh." "I apologize." "It's so insensitive of me to talk about my... dietary decisions when Prairie" "It's okay." "You wrote the book about the boy?" "Jamie." "Amazing young man." "What is he like?" "He was only eight when he was abducted." "Uh, 15 when he was rescued." "Sometimes when you talk to him he seems really young." "And other times, really old." "Nothing in between." "What happened to him makes him a creature apart." "On a different frequency, you know?" "So... for the book." "When would you start?" "Well, that's up to Prairie." "I would never rush this, but..." "Prairie, here's the thing." "The process can sometimes help people to heal." "Storytelling is cleansing." "But I also want to make sure you control the narrative." "That you profit from it." "Hmm." "And did it heal them?" "All the money?" "It's given his family a security that they've never known." "But more importantly, the process of telling this story has somehow exorcised it." "Jamie will tell you." "He says that when we typed, "The end..."" "that meant it was truly over." "Sorry." " I don't think that" " What's that, honey?" "I think this isn't gonna work." "But I can..." "We can do it however you" "I can't give you what Jamie gave you is the problem." "It's not about you giving me any" "His story has an end." "Well" "I'm..." "This is just beginning." "I'm very, very..." "I'm very sorry." "The first time you fall asleep in prison... you forget." "You wake up a free woman." "And then you remember that you're not." "You lose your freedom many times before you finally believe it." "You have to eat." "The pellets make me sick to my stomach." "You'll acclimate." "I'm gonna lose my mind down here." "Is that part of this?" "No." "Talk to the others." "Keep your mind busy." "I..." "I can get you braille books." "What do you like to read?" "I won't be able to live without sunlight and air." "The others have." "The others aren't blind." "Night slipped into day." "Day into night." "Where is August?" "What have you done with her?" "I need to know that she's okay." "She needs me." "Enough, Rachel." "You know he's taken her upstairs." "She needs me." "We were like the living dead." "Right next to each other, but alone." "There's nothing more isolating than not being able to feel time." "Let me out!" "To not feel the distance between hours, days." "You're alive." "You're alive." "You're alive." "You're gonna get out of here." "Is anyone awake?" "Jesus." "Did you just..." "throw up in our fuckin' water?" "I need water." "No drinking water right now." "We're using it to wash up." "Okay." "Come on." "Let's go." "There's a door in front of you." "Push it." "Hold on." "Thank you." "That's enough." "Take the other half." "You won't eat 'cause the others can't." "Is that it?" "Make 'em all sandwiches." "I don't care." "Big step." "Hold on." "Here." "You know, somebody might want to show some gratitude." "This is because of her." "It won't be a regular occurrence." "Why'd you have to fuck it up with mustard?" "Look, look." "Hey, hey." "Hey, you." "You don't have to bang on the glass." "I can hear you." "Come here." "Come, come." "Please." "You got upstairs." "I did." "What's it like up there?" "The sun was out." "You gotta get my ring." "I stashed it up there when he brought me in." "It's in the bathroom." "You gotta bring it down for me." "And a bill..." "A bill for water, gas, anything." "You gotta help me out, okay?" "He trusts you." "What..." "I don't..." "What are you talking about?" "So, like, a year and 36 days ago, this guy says he'll give me 500 bucks to participate in this study about NDEs." "You see, Mandy, my son's mom... she told me she was pregnant." "Two months along." "She just found out." "I wanted to prove to her that even though we weren't together," "I would be a great dad." "I could support our son." "I thought I'd do the study and give her the 500 bucks as a symbol of that." "So I get in the car with him." "And he drives me here and I asked to go to the bathroom." "And I had this feeling, this..." "this sinking feeling, uh..." "As soon as I got to the bathroom," "I just stashed my championship football ring in the medicine cabinet." "I knew something was coming for me." "I had to leave a trace, in case I disappeared." "Look." "Look." "Oh..." "Oh, shit." "I..." "I forgot that, uh..." "Um..." "Well, I still have the money." "Isn't that fucked up?" "Well, what are you gonna do with your ring and a bill?" "You're gonna mail it." "And you'll leave a note in it saying to send it to Mandy." "She could use it to get my son, uh, diapers, or clothes, or little music tapes to make him smart." "Are you kidding me?" "If I ever get up there again I have to, like, find a phone or hit him over the head with some" "This is more important than that, all right?" "Please." "We are down here." "There is nothing to do about that." "But my son is out there every day without a father." "It kills me every day to think he thinks I walked out on him." "How do you know it's a boy?" "What?" "What if you have a daughter?" "Are you listening to me?" "I don't feel like you're listening to me." "I'm listening." "I..." "I just need a moment to think... about my own plan." "Prairie, Prairie, Prairie, Prairie." "Fuck!" "No, no, no." "Cover your vent, Prairie." "What's that smell?" " Get on your bed." "Stand on it." "Now!" " No." "It's not my turn!" "Feel the wall near the ceiling." "The wall near the ceiling." "To the right, way to the right." "Way." "More to the right!" "More." "Keep going." "There." "Homer... what happened?" "Homer?" "A family was gonna live here." "Probably not." "They just built it and then the economy went to shit." "But if that hadn't happened, some family would have had a life here." "It's not really something you think about when you're looking for somewhere to deal out of." "Fighting in the kitchen, kids being born, heartache, sex, probably in this tub." "Until they don't anymore." "Kids movin' out." "Parents getting sick." "People getting old." "You sound like one of the poetry kids." "Poetry kids?" "You know, the ones who write poems about, like, cutting themselves and shit." "You said we were gonna help people." "Did you mean, like, Homer and Scott and Rachel?" "So this is dangerous?" "Families suck." "Yeah." "Not all of them, though." "Not the ones you build out of strange pieces." "And they work." "They don't look like they should, but they do." "Hey." "Left my bag." "Yo, I just passed OA running out." "Uh, she looked upset, too." "Hey, what'd you do to her?" "Nothing." "Don't treat me like I'm some fucking pedophile or something." "Pedophiles are people who are into kids." "You think you're so fucking smart, don't you?" "You think you're the king of the world and we're your dumb little servants?" "What are you talking about?" "Hey, don't forget, I know you." "And I know the shitty, smelly house you crawled out of this morning." "I'm this close to beating the shit out of you." "Then go ahead, take a swing." "I'm not 12 anymore." "I beat the shit out of you then." "I can beat the shit out of you now." "Right. 'Cause you never change." "And that's why your parents want to send you to that place." "Bitch." "Pussy!" "Hey, again." "Rod Spence." "Calling you about your brother's estate." " Could you please, uh" "Rod Spence, uh, trying you again." "Your, uh, brother's will." "Please call me back." "Hey, Otter." "Theo." "Just throwing out a line to see what comes back." "Hey, Otter." "Theo." "Just throwing out a line to see what comes back." " Hey, Otter." "Theo." "Just throwing out a line to see what comes back." "Steven." "Yeah, I'm on my way." "Right now." "Okay, good." "I stuck my neck out for you with Principal Gilchrist and your parents." "You are?" "Uh, Winchell." "Take the open seat." "And?" "Hit the space bar." "It's pretty self-explanatory." " Welcome to the Alternative School." "You're here because you aren't the typical student." "Traditional environments don't work for you, but that's okay." "At the Alternative School, you can pick your subjects each day and work at your own pace." "Pretty neat." "Shall we get started?" "Can you see them better now, you little bitch?" "I didn't do anything." "Dude." "How about now?" "Can you see 'em better now?" "Just working on my geometry." "There's no Euclid on my tits, you fucking freak." "That's my water." "That's an extra week." "How long it takes your dick to get hard." "What happened to you?" "Lacrosse." "Steve." "Come sit down." "Is it okay?" "Here's something I can tell you." "It's really hard to kill a man." "It's even hard to allow a man to die." "I became his housekeeper." "And slowly learned his ways." "He trusted me because I was blind and couldn't see his work." "Which is all he ever did." "Are you sick?" "You can tell what I'm doing?" "No, I just... used to hear that sound all the time as a kid." "I don't like to sleep, it's a waste of time, but... it's necessary, so sleeping pills." "That's enough for tonight." "You can finish in the morning." "I knew what I had to do." "I just had to figure out how to do it under his nose." "Hap got his food and supplies online." "A delivery once a month." "When I had crushed enough sleeping pills..." "I asked him to order the ingredients for a stew my father had taught me to make." "Why do Russians love beets so much?" "Beets survive frost." "Hmm." "Of course." "Something always survives." "When I was a boy, there was a PBS program that I loved." "Hosted by this..." "this very proper British scientist." "And he would go to, uh, some impossible altitude or... some big desert somewhere." "He was always whispering..." ""I'm standing here in the remotest part of the world, where nothing should survive."" "There was always some creature that was thriving." "No matter how harsh the environment." "I loved that show." "Gave me hope." "It's almost done." "You said you had fresh parsley?" "Oh, I'm sure it's fine how it is." "You're looking at me." "Yes." "Let me get you some parsley." "It's in the back garden." "Just be a moment." "Here... fresh parsley." "Smells earthy." "I'll eat when I'm done." ""It's never gonna taste as good as it does right now."" "My dad used to say that." "Here." "Why don't you... sit down?" "You've worked so hard." "Let's eat together." "You should enjoy it, too." "Are you okay?" "You're sweating." "I..." "I've been over the stove." "So?" "Give me a second." "What's the rush?" "I've never made someone something from my childhood before." "It's good." "It's really nice." "You're not eating." "It's hard to eat." "It reminds me of home." "Are you choking?" "What's in the soup?" "What did you put in the soup?" "Um, beets, onions, vegetable stock, sour cream." "This vegetable stock has tomato paste." "I can't eat tomatoes." "It's okay." "I have an EpiPen." "Go and get my spare EpiPen." "It's in the bathroom cabinet above the sink." "Don't be stupid." "You don't know the door code." "They're all trapped down there." "They'll..." "They'll starve and die." "Go on." "Forgive me." "Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me." "She died before you got here." "Her name was August." "Or that's what they called her." "Because she... she came in August." "Go clean up." "What happened?" "He finally ass-fucked her." "Shut the fuck up, Scott." "What is it?" "He's burying August in the morning." "He's outside!" "He's digging." "Okay, let's go." "Who knows how long he'll be." "Just like before when I passed you the Ziploc, only we're against the current now, so it's harder." "A little more." "I can't." "It's pushing it back." "All right." "All right." "Think of your shoulder like it's putty." "It can stretch." "Just relax and then grow your arm." "I've got it." "Come on!" "We all wanna write something." "We don't have time." "Who's it addressed to?" "Verizon." "Those schmucks will think it's a prank." "No." "No, they won't." "I used to work in a call center." "There's actual people there." "I need to tell Mandy I did not run out on the baby." " No, lunatic!" "We need to tell them..." " Shh." "...to get the police." "That we're trapped here." "Where?" "Where are we?" "I was out of it." "I didn't see." " Out of it?" " I was high, Rachel." "There was a two-lane highway, lots of dust, rocks." "Wait... is there a return address?" "A PO box." "New York City." "Is that traceable?" " Maybe?" " I don't know." "Well, we can't be more than four hours from New York City." "Maybe five by plane." "You got on a plane with him?" "You got in a car with him." "Describe him." "Medium build..." "Yeah, brown hair, brown eyes." "I think they're blue." "Sharp nose." "Not that sharp." "It's distinct." "Say that he's a doctor, maybe an anesthesiologist." "And that he has a single-engine plane, so he has a pilot's license." "That's good, that's good." "What do you got so far?" "Okay." ""Four of us are being held captive." "This PO box is picked up by the captor." "We are held four to five hour flight from New York City."" "Say that he had to refuel the plane twice." ""Refuel..."" "Give them..." "give them my brother's address." "3512 Mapleton, Fort Wayne, Indiana." "He gonna come pick you up?" "He's in a wheelchair." "We need the police." "Fort Wayne." "Prairie?" "Nancy and Abel Johnson." "189 Mills Pond, Claude, Michigan." "Michigan." "A-B-E-L." "Who do you wanna put down, Scott?" "I don't wanna take up the space." "There's plenty of space." "There's no one." "Just tell 'em to call the FBI." "It's perfect." "Send it back." "The current is strong." "Make sure you've got it." "I feel the plastic." "Are you sure?" "Wait." "Wait, I feel..." "I've got the corner." "You got it?" "He's coming!" "He's coming." "I got it, I got it." "I got it." "Wait." "Wait, I lost it." "I lost it." "Catch it downstream!" "Downstream!" "Scott, downstream!" " To the right!" "To the right!" " Scott!" "Scott!" "Scott!" "Fuck!" "It just... disappeared." "Those football rings are clunky." "Um, wouldn't Hap have, like, noticed it in the envelope anyway?" "Maybe." "Well, you were gonna put it in the middle of the mail pile, right?" "Hap wouldn't notice that." "Oh, shut up, guys." "Seriously." "You ask the dumbest questions." " Now, how did you get it back?" " We didn't." "Wait, so you lost Homer's ring?" "Yeah." "It's probably 8,000 feet underground." "Jesse's right." "I mean, it was kind of impossible." "An impossible hope." "And when it was gone... everything came crashing down with it." "Stop." "You have to stop." "Stand up." "I said, stand up." "I can't." "Stand up and put your arms in the air." "I don't..." "I don't..." "I don't want to." "Doesn't matter." "Do it." "Do it for me." "Get up." "Get up." "I can't." "Yes, you can." "Up." "Up." "Jump." "What?" "Stop talking." "Start jumping." "Jump." "Again." "Please, I can't." "Oh, keep going." "Do it, Prairie." "Jump." "Again." "Flap your arms as you jump." "Not silly, but for real." "Like your arms are giant wings." "Again." "Higher." "Again." "Again." "See?" "You've got it." "You're okay." "Don't fall in the water or knock over a plant." "Am I doing jumping jacks?" "Yeah, you're..." "you're sorta doing jumping jacks." "Homer, I'm" "Don't even say it." "We tried to escape and we failed." "But we did it together." "We could do it again." "We could get outta here." "If I ever get out of here..." "I'd want to sing something... for my little brother." "Keep going." "I used to sing in church choir." "I was pretty good." "People tellin' me I should make a go of it, so..." "I took my little brother and we snuck off." "It's not that we didn't love our family." "We did." "But there was a lot of hate in that town." "My father was like all of them." "Stole the family van." "Headed to Nashville." "I thought I could raise my brother myself." "But the van flipped on the highway." "Collapsed all around us." "But I... was floating above the car." "And I could see my little brother's red backpack in the middle of the road." "You died and came back?" "Everyone here..." "really died and came back." "Yeah, my... my voice changed after that." "Became something else." "I don't know." "He just..." "He never got to hear it." "I just want a fucking cup of coffee... and a cigarette." "Sit on a stoop in the sun... in the mornin' before the city gets loud." "What about you, Homer?" "Take my son places I've never been." "See things together for the first time." "Like, uh, the pyramids, or the Northern Lights." "I'd swim." "In a pool or a lake?" "I don't know, a lake maybe." "It doesn't really make a difference." "I'm... not very good at it anymore." "I just like the feeling of being surrounded by something other than the dark." "What's it sound like, Rachel?" "The song for your brother." "Thanks." "Oh..." "I needed that." "Is your hair different?" "Hmm?" "Are you doing your hair differently?" "Well, it looks nice like that." "All right, that's enough for today." "What did you do to August?" "Hmm?" "What happens after the gas?" "Oh, that's my part of it." "Don't you worry about it." "The gas is so you..." "You don't have to worry." "Look, Prairie, all great work... important work, comes at great cost." "Run, Prairie, run!" "Go!" "Prairie, go get help!"