"Ed?" "Is that you?" "Would you like to come and join us for supper?" "We got plenty." "Uh, no, thank you." "Ruth-Anne just got some new Spencer Tracy tapes in, and I was kinda planning on watching those tonight." "Quiet." "Are you getting enough to eat up there?" "Oh, yeah." "Plenty." "Well, good night." "Good night, Ed." "A lot of good people feel just as I do." "We're not un-Christian monsters." "Well, if I'm right, you're pretty close to it, and so far I've proven my case." "Mr. Hargraves, when you got into trouble at 11 or 12 years of age, you had your mother, you had your father, to put their arms around you, to talk things over." "Can you imagine the fright and the loneliness of a boy without that love and understanding?" "This poor kid, in prison for life" "I want a home for them where they can stay... and where they can learn." "A town for boys..." "governed by boys." "It's worth a shot, isn't it?" "This is Chris in the Morning coming to you on K-Bear from Cicely, Alaska... in the heart of the borough of Arrowhead." "It's a beautiful day in the 49th state- crisp and clear, invigorating, intoxicating." "You know, I had a really weird dream last night." "I was working on an assembly line with my first true love, Leslie Ferguson, and we were making these mechanical frogs that could jump and sing at the same time." "They say dreams are the windows of the soul." "Take a peek, and you can see the inner workings, the nuts and bolts." "I don't understand the assembly line, and the, uh, frogs are a little confusing, but Leslie Ferguson rings bright and true." "First love." "We all have one somewhere." "Anyway, this- this one's for you, Leslie." "?" "She's so gay tonight She's like spring tonight?" "Hello?" "She's a rollicking, frolicking thing tonight?" "?" "So disarming Soft and charming?" "Hello?" "Excuse me?" "?" "She is not thinking of me?" "?" "She's not?" "Hey!" "Excuse me." "I'm lost." "Hi." "I'm sorry to bother you, but how do I get to Route 1?" "Uh, it's straight through town." "Are you all right?" " Mmm." " So I go... south?" "Are you sure you're all right?" "Well, thanks." "Sorry to interrupt." " Maurice Chevalier?" "Louis Jourdan." "Nice." "I like that." "Bye." "?" "Oh, she's simmering with love?" "?" "Oh, she's shimmering with love?" "B-7." "G-54." "N-36." "G-51." "Morning, Ed." "Morning, Great Aunt." "B-3." "Come to play a little bingo?" "No, Great Aunt." "I-24." "Ahh!" "Why do I play this game?" "I don't even like this game." "O-68." "Great Aunt?" "Yes, Ed?" "Can you tell me who my parents were?" " N-37." " We found you." "You know that." "Wrapped in a blanket." "A coat." "A sealskin coat." "Coat, blanket- So sue me." "I-28." "Where, exactly?" "Up by the meadow." "Down by the river." "Light Feather found him." "It wasn't Light Feather." "It was Wind Dancer." "I-13." "Fast Cloud found you." "In the bushes next to his cabin." "He told me himself." "You believe Fast Cloud?" "Fast Cloud used to think he was Joe DiMaggio." "He ordered a uniform from Sears and used to go around town singing," ""Take Me Out to the Ball Game. "" "Can you tell me about my mother?" "I have blue eyes." "Your mother was a white woman." "A teacher in Skagway." "She wasn't a teacher." "She was a missionary." "N-44." "What about my father?" "Can't you tell me anything?" "I mean, his name?" "Smith." "Smith?" "Smith." "Smith." "And Z-7." "Hi, Chris." "What's your problem?" "Bad tooth?" "Sore throat?" "Oh, you lost your voice." "They-They put in extra parts just to make you crazy." "I mean, what is this?" "Does this look like a tibia to you?" "No, it doesn't." "It looks like the tailbone of the orangutan." "I mean, how many teeth do you think this thing has?" "Thirty." "I counted." "What happened to 32?" "We're supposed to have 32 teeth." "What, this guy went to the dentist and then they sent him to me?" "What?" "Wh-What's the matter?" "You're sick." "You have to throw up?" "No." "He lost his voice." "You lost your voice?" "How?" "You" " What?" "You" " You're" "Chest pains?" "You-You swallowed a chicken bone." "No, no, no." "You did- Tongue." "Choke." "What?" "You" "You" " You flew." "You fell." "You fell down." "You knocked your breath out." "Yes, that can happen." "A good jolt to the coccyx" "A beautiful woman took his voice away." "Yeah." "Sure." "Right." "What do you mean?" "What, she just reached in and-and-and yanked it out... with her bare hand?" "No?" "She-She" " What?" "With her beauty." "Okay." "Thank you, Marilyn." "Thank you very much." "I'll call you if I need you." "Which I won't, though, but thanks." "Chris." "Look." "You can lose your voice if you stay up all night screaming." "You can lose your voice because of an invasion of viral agents, commonly known as laryngitis, but you cannot- you cannot" " Sit down." "You cannot lose your voice because you saw a beautiful woman." "Hold this." "Say, "ahh. "" "Can't even manage just a little squeak?" "That's kind of ironic, don't you think?" "Deejay losing his voice?" "Ed." "Ed." " Hello." " Wh" " Who are you?" "They call me One Who Waits." "I am a spirit." "A spirit, like a ghost?" "I prefer a spirit." "What are you doing here?" "What do you want?" "I've been watching you." "I know that you're struggling in pain." "I think I can help you." "I don't understand." "Help me?" "You want to learn about your parents, don't you?" " You can do that?" " How hard can it be?" "This is an important day for you, Ed." "A great search is one of the most important events of a man's life." "Back in the old days, two of our people led the white man on a search for gold." "Found it, too, as you may know." "We've always been good at searching." "What?" "Our wedding grounds used to be here." "So much has changed." "That's where we used to gather before going out on a hunt." "We would sing songs and prepare ourselves." "What's a Wash 'n Dry?" "Uh, that's a place where you can wash your clothes in machines." "And dry too?" "Uh-huh." "It's warm in there." "You can do your clothes at night, and they come out much fluffier." "What?" "What is it?" "Is something here?" "Something important?" "A tree." "A special tree?" "No." "just a tree." "Before we start, I think it's a good idea... we get you something to eat." "It's important to begin a search on a full stomach." "Good morning, Cicely." "This is Holling Vincoeur." "As many of you know, the-the voice you would ordinarily be hearing," "Chris Stevens, has lost his voice." "So, I'm here instead." "I" " I-I really should be helping" "I should be helping Shelly with breakfast." "I mean, this is our biggest meal." "I" "Will" " Will the beautiful girl... in the red parka... who pressed through Cic- who passed through Cicely uh, uh, yesterday... please- please contact the radio station." "You have inadvertently taken something which does not belong to you." "You might like pancakes." "The scrambled eggs are a little dry." "Sunny-side up's good." "How are the hamburgers?" "Not bad." "What are the hamburgers?" "Meat." "Kinda ground up, and then they cook 'em and serve 'em on buns." "Well, that's like bread." "They're better with cheese." " Mornin", Ed." " Hi, Shelly." "Usual?" "Yes, please." "Cheeseburger?" "Cheeseburger sounds good." "Fries?" "French fries." "Potatoes." "They're good with ketchup." "Ed, who are you talking to?" "One Who Waits." "Oh." "She can't see you." "White people can be blind." "Why?" "Because I" " I'm dead to them." "I put in a call to the C.D.C. in Atlanta, but the phone was busy for an hour." "Can you believe that?" "Atlanta, Georgia?" "Major metropolitan center, I can't get through?" "You'd think Sherman torched it yesterday." "I don't think losing your voice is contagious, but, you know, who knows?" "I might have to quarantine you." "Hey, Ed." "No, wait!" "What?" "Someone's sitting there." "Okay." "Okay." "Take it easy." "This one's wobbly." "You can't save seats, Ed." "You know that." "It's against the rules." "Who's sitting here?" "Where is he?" "In the john?" "He's right here." " Who?" " One Who Waits." " One who what's?" " Waits." "He's an Indian spirit, like a ghost." "You can't see him 'cause white men are blind, and to you he's dead." "I heard about your voice, Chris." "Sorry." "Wh-What happened?" "He lost his voice to beauty." "He lost his voice to beauty?" "It's a very old problem." "Hold it." "H-Hold it." "Ed, you're-you're talking to an empty stool." " This is not a good sign." " Here we go." "One for Ed... and one for Ed's new invisible friend." "Thank you." "You're both welcome." "All right." "I'm worried about you, Ed." "I really am." "You're not acting in a psychologically healthy way." "Go ahead." "Try it." "It's really good." "I don't eat anymore." "I just smell it." "Chris, do you want this?" "He doesn't like to eat anymore." "He just likes to smell it." "I'm outta here." "Good-bye, Dr. Fleischman." "It's not your fault you can't see him." "Tell your friend... there's only one thing to do when you lose your voice to beauty." "What's that?" "He must find the most beautiful girl in the village... and capture her spirit." "He says you're supposed to find the most beautiful girl in town... and sleep with her if you want to get your voice back." "Uh, don't look at me." "He said it." "This is, uh, Holling Vincoeur on K" " K-BHR." "Chris.!" "You there?" "I hate to disturb your breakfast, but I'm out of music." "Uh, what do I do now?" "Do you believe that all things in nature are alive, Ed- the sky, the trees, the rocks?" "Oh, yes." "Good." "Have you thought about what you might say... when we find your parents?" "I" " I don't know." "Uh, "Hi." "How are ya?"" "I" " I guess I'd like to know what happened, why they left me." "This looks like a good spot." "I think we'll find some answers here." "Let's ask." "A" " Ask who?" "First I'll ask the wind." "Spirit of the wind, who are Ed's parents?" "What's it saying?" "Shh." "The wind doesn't know, or the wind doesn't want to tell us." "The wind can be stubborn." "There's no use trying to force it." "We'll ask the water." "Yeah, let's ask the water." "What now?" "First we ask;" "then we listen." "Tell us, spirit of the water, who are Ed's parents?" "Well, what does the water say?" "We've got a little problem here." "I never was much good at talking in front of people." "Course, talking to a microphone isn't exactly public speaking." "But even though I couldn't see them," "I could feel them out there, listening." "People sitting in their cars, gun shops, sweat lodges- all of them waiting to hear your voice... and getting mine." "Chris, you have a talent, a real gift." "Well, at least..." "you used to, anyway." "Evening, Chris, Holling." "Pour me a tall one, will ya?" "You got it." "That was pathetic this morning, Chris." "I understand it was a pretty woman that caused the damage." "Is that right?" "Yeah, she walked right in, said hi, and then, uh, walked right out with your voice." "Is that it?" "Well, take a sip of beer." "It'll probably help some." "Here you go, Maurice." "Here's to your voice, son." "May it come back soon." "If not, look for work." "She must've been really something special, huh?" "?" "Hey, baby Don't you pass me by?" "Tell me, Chris, do you know the Arthurian legends?" "You know, King Arthur, Sir Lancelot," "Sir Gawain, Lady in the Lake?" "Well, there's a story in there that reminds me of your predicament." "Seems Sir Gawain was riding through the woods one day... when he heard a lady's voice calling for help." "Well, he spurred his steed forward and galloped on until he saw... a beautiful lady standing in a meadow." "A vision." "Well, he was so enamored of her that, uh, he let down his guard." "He got careless." "Well, that was a mistake." "Because when he moseyed up to her, she turned into a sorceress, a witch." "Put a spell on him." "Yeah." "She took his courage, Chris." "The worst thing that can happen to a man." "After that, Sir Gawain would hightail it away from all the great battles." "The sight of a dragon made him piss in his armor." "He was a disgrace." "All the Knights of the Round Table laughed at him." "Even old Merlin was stumped." "After that, he just kind of went to pieces." "But this is not a sad story, Chris, because it's got a happy ending." "At the end, Sir Gawain got his courage back." "You know how he did that?" "He went to bed with a beautiful woman." "The next morning, when he got up, presto." "His courage had returned." "Yeah." "Something to think about." "Plan of action." "Better than sittin' around feeling sorry for yourself." "A teakettle's better company than you are, son." "Good luck to you." "Unbelievable day." "I had to fly down to Petersburg, pick up some snowmobile parts, and fly them to Yakutat." "So far, so good." "But halfway to Yakutat, the crates shake open, and suddenly I've got an airplane that's listing like a wounded seagull." "By the way, I promised Maurice... that I'd fix the radiator at the station." "I'll do that tomorrow, okay?" "Chris." "Oh, right." "Too bad about your voice." "It'll come back, though." "Chris, excuse me." "These were my dad's, and they brought him luck." "I want you to have them." "Without your voice, there's a hole in this community." "A big, black hole right in the center of Cicely." ""Where's Rick?" Oh, he had to fly a bunch of oil guys up to Valdez." "They're trying to prove the whole thing didn't happen." "Why?" "?" "Pretty lady in the pretty garden?" "?" "Can't you stay?" "?" "Pretty lady, we got leave?" "?" "And we got paid today?" "?" "Pretty lady with the flower?" "?" "Give a lonely sailor half an hour?" "?" "Pretty lady, can you understand?" "?" "A word I say?" "?" "Don't go away?" "?" "Pretty lady?" "?" "You're the cleanest thing I've seen all year?" "?" "Pretty lady, you're enough to make me glad?" "You know, sometimes when you look back on a situation, you realize it wasn't all you thought it was." "A beautiful girl walked into your life." "You fell in love." "Or did you?" "Perhaps it was only a childish infatuation." "Or maybe just a brief moment of vanity." "Do you recognize this place?" "Uh, I don't think so." "This is where you were welcomed into the tribe." "There's an old saying that if you come back... to the place where you became a man, you will remember all those things that you need to be happy." "Uh, I don't remember anything." "That saying never did make sense to me." "But I thought it was worth a try." "When the men of the tribe brought you up here, you were three years old." "Was there a dog?" "A dog?" "I don't know." "There might have been a dog." "I remember sitting in the sunshine... and a dog sticking his nose in my face." "I really liked that." "That could've been here." "Each man told you a story of the tribe." "A history." "They didn't expect you to remember everything." "They just wanted you to hear the words." "And when they finished, they picked you up... and handed you man to man... so that you would know each one of them was your father." "Do you remember?" "Those are your stories." "And those men are your fathers." "Are we getting anywhere here?" "Oh, yes." "Morning, Maurice." "I talked to a friend in New York." "Uh, a throat specialist at-at Beth Zion." "Yeah?" "He said a shock to the system can sometimes cause a person to lose his voice." "Is that right?" "You know, like your hair suddenly turning white." "And he said usually the voice comes back, but not always." "Hmm." "Whew!" "Oh!" "Been a few rare cases... where victims have been rendered permanently mute." "I mean, I don't think we should tell Chris that." "Let me ask you a question, Fleischman." "Sure." "When you first met Elaine, did you feel any pain?" "Pain?" "Physical pain?" "Yeah." "I" " Sort of." "There's a certain degree of anxiety." "Um, nervous stomach, like someone stabbing me." "Pain, yes." "Definitely." "Did you know Einstein didn't think of his theory of relativity?" "He felt it." "He was on a trolley in Vienna or somewhere, and all of a sudden it hit him." "Bam!" "His whole body." "He was excited, but he felt sick too." "Nausea." "He had to get off that trolley before he puked." "Yeah?" "Well, that's an interesting story, Maurice." "When Holling first saw Shelly, he got a stiff neck." "I was sittin' right there." "He couldn't move his head for two or three days." "just seized up on him." "What's the point, Maurice?" "Well, it seems that grand passions... sometimes pack a- a wallop." "Morning, Dr. Fleischman." "Hi." "Thanks, Shelly." "Warm-up, Maurice?" "Course, I wouldn't know about that." "Hi, Chris." "Sorry I'm late." "Oh!" "Expecting someone for dinner, huh?" "Me?" "Well, what about the radiator?" ""I'm honored and happy to have you as my guest tonight. "" "Well, that's really nice." "But you didn't have to fix me dinner." ""I'd like the company." "You're one of my best friends in Cicely, and we've never even had dinner together. "" "I'll check out the radiator." "Sometimes they get kinda clogged up." "Shouldn't be too hard to fix." "I'll probably just have to bleed it a little." "Oh." "Well, that's usually all it takes." "Oh, no." "This doesn't look good." "You've got a rusty pipe." "I'll have to get you a new one." ""Please don't work." "Just relax and let me take care of you. "" ""The heart becomes an object if the brain only works. "" "It's Jung, right?" "Krishnamurti." "Smells great." "Glazed carrots would be fine." "I" " I love glazed carrots." ""You don't have to stay if you don't want to." "I won't take it personally. "" "Are you kidding?" "I should fix your radiator more often." ""A toast to the most beautiful girl in Cicely. "" "Mmm." "Champagne." "What a treat." "Dr. Fleischman, you wanted to see me?" "How's, uh, what's-his-name, your invisible friend?" "One Who Waits." "He's fine, thank you." "Can I ask how long you've known him?" "A few days this time." ""This time"?" "Well, he's 256 years old." "We may have touched base once or twice before." "Ed, can I be honest with you?" "Sure." "Are we alone?" "Uh-huh." "Have you ever heard of delusional behavior?" "Wish fulfillment?" "Repressed needs?" "Oh, you mean where you want something you don't want to admit to." "Exactly." "You really want to know who your parents were, right?" "You need to know." "Now, I'm no shrink, but I think what you've done is create this One Who Waits in your mind." "I mean, you think he exists, but he doesn't." "In fact, you're absolutely convinced." "Now, this is tricky territory, Ed." "People who see things that don't exist... usually end up in Bellevue." "It's a special hospital for people with severe mental illness." "Oh." "Loony bins." "Okay." "We're clear on this." "The important thing to remember is that the mind, just like the body, can usually heal itself." "You just have to stand back and get a grip." "Gotcha." "Hey, Ed." "This doctor" "He thinks too much- that's his problem." " He thinks I'm crazy." " What?" "Good-bye, Dr. Fleischman." " Bye, Ed." "Bye, Chief." " "Chief"?" "I mean, I'm starting to think what we're dealing with here... is shared delusional behavior." "It's been known to happen." "You put people together in a dark and spooky house, pretty soon they're all gonna start hearing chains and seeing ghosts." "I mean, the politicians understand it." "The advertisers understand it." "We're vulnerable." "We're capable of being convinced of almost anything." "Have you heard one word I just said, O'Connell?" "Every word, Fleischman." "And?" "I think you've been reading too many freshman psychology textbooks." "Oh, you do, do you?" "My thoughts, uh, lack sufficient sophistication?" "Not enough intellectual pizzazz for you, Miss O'Connell," "Nobel Prize-winning philosopher and nuclear physicist?" "Give me a break." "You'd better be careful." "You're about to dismember that beer bottle." "Do I detect a certain smugness tonight?" "What do you mean?" "That smile of yours makes the Mona Lisa look self-doubting." "What's going on?" "You're daydreaming." "I've never known you to have an inner life." "What's the big secret?" "Nothing." "Come on." "Come on." "Not that it's any business of yours" " But?" "Well, I had a very interesting dinner with Chris last night." " "Interesting"?" " Yeah." "Define "interesting. "" "Surprising, unexpected- Interesting." "Do I detect a note of jealousy, Fleischman?" "jealous?" "Me?" "Of what?" "Why would I be jealous?" "I was thinking more how Rick might feel." "Remember him?" "Big guy with landing gear for a brain?" "Why am I telling you this?" "I don't have to tell you this." "I'm not going to tell you this." "But just for your information," "Chris happens to think I'm beautiful." "Something funny about that, Fleischman?" "Something very funny about that, O'Connell." "Chris just made a pass at you because he thinks it's the only way he can get his voice back." "Oh, now who's calling who delusional?" "It's true." "Ask him." "There's some absurd story going around... that to get his voice back, he has to sleep with the most beautiful girl in town." "Well, there he is now." "The only man alive who can pitch woo without talking." "You don't think I've got what it takes to give a man his voice back?" "You don't think I'm woman enough?" "Well, let me tell you something, Fleischman." "I've had men... faint on me, pass out cold." "I am not some flat-chested, junior League," "Grosse Pointe wimp!" "Tomorrow night, my place, 8:00." "He's not just gonna talk, Fleischman." "He's gonna sing!" "Like Pavarotti!" "This is nice." "Almost warm." "Yeah." "I fell in love here." "Here?" "When it was a field." "A long time ago." "I was about your age." "I'd just come back from three days hunting." "Three days alone with the trees." "I looked up, and I saw this beautiful woman... coming out of the woods on a horse." "I recognized her." "She was one of the young girls of the tribe." "But I never realized how beautiful she was before." "She didn't see me." "She thought she was alone." "She got off the horse... and let the horse wander around the field... eating grass." "She just stood there and watched it, a smile on her face." "After a while, she got up and clapped her hands, and the horse come back to her, and she got on... and rode away back into the woods." "What happened to her?" "I married her." "We had kids." "Does this have anything to do with my parents?" "No." "It's just something I remembered." "I'm tired, Ed." "I think I'll go to sleep." "Do you sleep?" "Not really." "I just close my eyes... and lie on my side." "Old habits are hard to break." " You want me to turn off the fire?" " Leave it on." "I like it." "It keeps me in the mood." "You don't think she'll actually go through with it, do you?" "Who knows?" "This problem's taken on a whole new dimension." "I don't pretend to understand the female mind, but, uh, maybe she's doing this for us." "Us?" "Yeah." "The town." "We need Chris on the radio." "Uh-uh." "She hasn't got the guts." "Here he comes!" "Good luck, buddy.!" "I don't believe it." "He's shameless!" "Good luck, Chris." "You can do it." "Nah." "He won't go through with it." "It's too public, too humiliating." "He'll back down." "He can't go through with it." "Watch." "Or she won't answer the door." "She won't answer the door." "She'll pretend she isn't there." "Oh, my God." "This looks like Maggie the Cat." "I don't believe this.!" "He's going in.!" "They're gonna do it!" "They're gonna do it!" "Son, out here in the wilderness, a woman's got to do what a woman's got to do." "Hey, Chris." "How's it going?" "Ah, thanks." "That's nice." "Well, have a seat." "Relax." "So I went ice fishing this morning out on Lake Katilak." "Boy, the ice is thick." "It took me about half an hour just to drill through." "Half the town must be out there." "Animals." "Would you like a drink?" "Yes?" "No?" "Well" "Okay." "I guess we should get started." ""You don't have to do this. "" "I know." "But I want to." "Honest." "Really." "I do." "For you, for the town, for Fleischman." "Thanks." "I don't feel beautiful." "I feel, uh, ridiculous." "Okay, no more notes, Chris." "No more notes." "No more notes." "Okay?" "All right, well, here we go." "Ready?" "Okay." "Oh, God." "I'm sorry, Chris." "I can't do this." "Call me a wimp, call me a prude." "I" " I-I-I, uh" "God, I'd love to help you, but I just" " I can't." "I can't." "Sorry." "No, no, no." "Wait." "I refuse to give him the satisfaction." "Well, she's amoral." "That's all there is to it." "She'll do anything." "How did I convince myself that she might actually have a shred of moral decency?" "Come on, son." "You're overreacting." "She's just doing her bit to, uh, pull our town together." "This isn't a civics class, Maurice." "We're talking cheap thrills here." "The lowest of low." "Brute jungle behavior." "Okay." "I can't sleep with you." "Nothing personal." "But, uh, we'll think of something." "There's got to be a way." "All right." "You can't get your voice back unless I give it to you, right?" "And I'm the only one who can save you, right?" "Do you believe that?" "I'm going to give your voice to you now." "Did you get your voice back?" "Wow." "Cheers?" "They're cheering?" "What is this, an Olympic event?" "Ed." "Ed." " I have to go now." " Go where?" "Back." "Oh." "Right." "But I still don't know who my parents are." "I'm sorry, Ed." "I never had this kind of trouble with a search before." "I wish I could have been more helpful." "Oh, that's okay." "You're just a spirit, not a god." "You did the best you could." " I let you down." " Oh, no." "I feel better." " You do?" " Oh, yeah." "I'm glad you came." "You've got friends, Ed." "That's a lot." "You're gonna be all right." "just remember to keep your eyes on the road." "It will lead you where you want to go." "So long, Ed." "Hi, Maurice." "Shelly." "What's the matter?" "Shelly, do you remember when I brought you up here from Dawson City?" "I sure do." "You swept me right off my feet into that big Cadillac of yours, Maurice." "That was some day." "Yeah, I thought I was in love, but I guess I wasn't." "Huh?" "Well, everybody feels pain when they fall in love, Shelly." "I didn't feel any pain." "Uh, I was happy." "I felt pain." "You did?" "I had cramps, remember?" "I had to lie down in back for practically the whole trip." "You kept stopping and getting me more Maalox and Pepto-Bismol, but it didn't help one bit." "It didn't, did it?" "I had a headache too." "You did?" "Uh, bad one?" "Terrible." "By the time we got here, I thought I was gonna have some kind of brain seizure." "Why didn't you ever tell me this before?" "Well, I didn't want to spoil your good time, Maurice." "I have to get this stuff out front before it gets cold." "Maybe I didn't get to you, Maurice, but you sure got to me." "I was sick as a dog half the time we were together." "After my recent brush with voicelessness, I thought I'd share with you... a few thoughts about speech." "Don't take it lightly, my friends." "If music is the pathway to the heart, as Voltaire suggested, then speech is the pathway to other people." "Live in silence, and you live alone." "Hey, Chris." "Hey." "Thought I'd drop by and see how the old voice was doing." " Oh, it's fine, thanks." " Good." "Good." "Medically speaking." " Any requests?" " What?" " You know." " Oh, no, no." "Thanks." "So- You got your voice back." "Yep." "Loud and clear." "All because you" "How was it?" "Uh, she?" "Does she moan?" "Never mind." "Forget I asked." "It's personal." "You're right." "Forget it." "Okay." "She does, doesn't she?" "We all carry around so much pain in our hearts- love and pain and beauty." "They all seem to go together, like one little... tidy, confusing package." "It's a messy business, life." "It's" "It's hard to figure." "It's full of surprises." "Some good and some bad." "Anyway, Maggie, if you're listening, this one's for you." "?" "When I grow?" "?" "Too old to dream?" "?" "I'll have you?" "?" "To remember?" "Need any help?" "No, thanks." "I've just about got it done." "Are you from around here?" "Not for a long time." "I live in Fairbanks now." "That should do it." "Thanks for stoppin'." " Name's Smith." " Ed." "Good to meet you." "Ed." "Better zip up." "There's another cold front comin'." "Smith?" "?" "When I grow?" "?" "Too old to dream?" "?" "Your love will live?" "?" "In my heart?" "?" "So kiss me?" "?" "My sweet?" "?" "And so?" "?" "Let us part?" "?" "And when I grow?" "?" "Too old?" "?" "To dream?" "?" "Your love?" "?" "Will live?" "?" "In my heart?"