"My birth was unconventional at best." "My first memory was waking up in the forest." "Like a newborn baby, I had no idea who I was or what was happening." "My eyes weren't sure what they were seeing." "Every sight, sound and feeling was unfamiliar." "Every species is born with instincts that ultimately create a balance with nature." "Every species, except the one I was born into." "I came across a beast with two voices." "I was thankful to have found a companion." "Come on, sweetie." "Freak." "Show's over, kid." "What's your name?" "Who are you?" "Soon I was taken to a new place with fences and sad faces." "Lori?" "Lori?" "Are you getting up?" "Declan!" "Like sometime this year?" "Let's all have breakfast together for a change." "I'm making pancakes." "I think you slept long enough." "Whew!" "We, uh..." "We didn't get to finish what we started." "You need to get out of here." "Later, Trager." "Lou, you're not disturbing me." "What's going on?" "I've got someone here you'll want to meet." "The kid showed up here this morning and he's right up your alley." "In other words, no one else wants to treat him." "It's not like that." "Nobody knows where he came from." "But he seems sharp and he's..." "Look, you gotta see him for yourself." "I'll stop by at 10:00 tomorrow." "Look, um, this afternoon OK?" "I'm on my way." " Ah!" "It's alive." " Bite me." "No, thanks." "That's Declan's job." "Shut up, dweeb." "Declan?" "What happened to Mike Suby?" "Old news." "Declan's her new flavor of the month." "Or of the week, in Miss Skanky's case." "Knock it off." "So who's this Declan guy?" "Just a friend." "He's having a party this week." " Can I take the car?" " We'll see." "Sorry, guys." "I have to go out for a bit." " Go out?" " Lou Daniels just called." " Nicole, it's Sunday." " It's urgent." "It sounds like a really special case." "They always do." "Save some pancakes for me, OK?" "Yeah, let's roll, man." "For some reason, the more people I saw, the more alone I felt." "Yo, let's get some juice down here." "'Sup?" "Everyone taking stupid pills around here?" "Juice me." "Most of our time is spent trying to lessen the pains of life." "I was about to learn how to quash hunger." "See something you like, punk?" "You're gonna see my fist if you don't quit eyeballin' me." "Kick his ass, man." "Be cool, Skeeter." "He can't understand a word you say." "He ain't dissin' you, man." "All right." "If he keeps staring' at me, then I have to kick his sorry ass." "I had no reason to fear this person." "But he reminded me of the snake in the woods just before it struck." "I was glad to see a familiar face, but a pressure below my waist was bothering me." "Come on, show me what you got." "Come on, put your hands up." "Put 'em up!" "You ain't tough, new kid." "Come on, put 'em up!" "Come on." "I wanted to learn his game, but the pain in my belly was getting more intense." "Hey!" "I barely noticed the discomfort on my face because, inside me, something had flipped and I began to feel wonderful." "Great job, guys." "No rec privileges for a week." "Now get out of here." "Now!" "Everybody out!" "Hey, Nicole." "Thanks for coming by to see him." "Does "him" have a name?" "The paperwork says "John Doe"" " for the time being." " John Doe." "What's a handsome boy like that doing with a dead man's name?" "You know, he kind of reminds me of my brother, Kyle." "He got all the looks in the family." "That's perfect." "Kyle." "Yeah." "Can't speak a word, but damned if he doesn't know what you're saying." " I'll be outside if you need me." " Fine." "I wanted to show her where I'd come from and what I'd seen." "So let me understand." "The boy has no family that you know of, he doesn't communicate and was found wandering alone." "That's all his folder said." "No AMBER Alerts, no missing person's report, nothing." "But there is one more thing you should see." "No belly button." " They'll never go for this." " Just a few days." " Finally." "I'm starving." " Did you get lo mein?" "Your mom's got something to talk to you about." "I have a new patient and where he's staying isn't safe, so I'm bringing him here for a little while." "Some mental patient's going to live in our house?" "He's not a mental patient." "He's a very sweet, very special boy." "I know what "special" means." "He'll probably drool." "I have to say I had thought, I'd hoped, that you'd both show compassion." " You don't know him." " He can't touch my things." "That's enough." "If your mom says he's coming, he's coming, and that's final." "This is it." "Home." "Where you'll be staying for a few days." "At least until I can..." "My first thought was that flat, tiny people must be living in the walls." "But then I understood." "Humans grow smaller as they develop, and pretty soon I'd be shrinking myself." "Maybe one day this woman would hold me too." "The images made my mind explode with complex mathematical formula." "Would you like to play a game, Kyle?" "Here." "Lots of kids have tons of fun with this one." "This is called a mouse." "When you move it, this arrow..." "Hello, there." "I am a bird." "I fly high into the sky." " Touch the sky and watch me fly." " Hello." " Did you bring him home?" " He's on the computer right now." "Do you need me?" "It could be a lot to handle." " Honey, I'll be fine." " Touch the house." "Getting a little old for Barney, aren't we, Josh?" "When I saw her, I realized something was horribly wrong." "Humans grow larger over time, not smaller." "It bothered me." "Wasn't I ever small?" "Why didn't you tell me he was in the house?" "He saw my boobs." "What did she...?" "Did he just...?" "I promise, we're fine." "I've got another call." "I've gotta go." "...late-breaking news." "We'll go out to that right now." "Our top story, a teenage girl washed up on shore this morning, having no memory whatsoever of how she got there." "Fractions, fractions, all done." "Yum, yum." "How much blood?" "I'm on my way." "Listen, there's an emergency at work." "I need you to watch Kyle." " Sure, Mom." " I'm serious." "Watch him." "I'll be right back." "Hello." "Oh, hi, Hilary." "No, Declan hasn't called." "If he's with Jessica he's probably got the clap by now." "You know me." "I felt weird when Mike Suby put his hand down my pants." "'Cause all I could think about were these warts on his hand." "That could be him." "If I don't click over you'll know why." "Hello." "Oh, hi, Declan." "No, I wasn't talking to anyone." "What's up?" "I know!" "It was the most beautiful sound in the world." "It was part mathematics and part... euphoria." "I felt certain that whatever this was was a gift to the world, meant to fill all that heard it with a flood of emotion." "Amanda, I'm home." "It then struck me that not everyone could appreciate this miracle." "The sound increased my sorrow for those who could not hear it." "There was a pounding in my chest, my face felt like it was burning, and more than anything, I wanted to disappear." "Oh!" "Run, Mom!" "There's a psycho in the shower!" "It's OK, Josh." "It's OK." "This is Kyle, the special boy I was telling you about." "If he's so special, why did you stick him in the bathtub?" "Nice to meet you, perv." "The reason I am letting that slide is because I have a favor to ask of you." "I would like Kyle to bunk in your room for a couple of nights." "Are you kidding?" "He's got bed-wetter written all over." "Well, I'm only asking." "Fine, but you better bust out the rubber sheets." "Have you seen Lori?" "She was supposed to watch him." "Some teacher called with test results." "Mrs. Planny-Parenthood." "I was beginning to sense that my very presence was turning these people against each other." " You and I are gonna have a talk." " Oh, no." "Did something happen to Kyle?" "Besides him going outside by himself?" "You can forget about Declan's party." "Mmm." "Hi, honey." "Is something wrong with Lori?" "She seems upset." "She's having a difficult time understanding responsibility." "Is this the, uh...?" "Kyle, this is my husband, Stephen." " Honey, this is Kyle." " Hello, Kyle." "I'm happy to make your acquaintance." " Can he understand a single thing?" " I don't think so." "At least he doesn't look dangerous." "Watch it, watch it!" "It's hot." "Hot." "Ouch." "This being was clearly a superior communicator." "I somehow understood everything it said and wondered why others chose to speak so ineffectively." "You know, this neighborhood isn't zoned for halfway houses." " Good evening, by the way." " Excuse me?" "One of your challenged cases broke into my..." "He didn't break in, Mom." "...broke into my house this afternoon and snuck up on Amanda while she was alone." "Who knows what could have happened if I hadn't come home." "I'm so sorry, Carol." "Lori was responsible for watching Kyle this afternoon." "Nicole, I would hate to make this into a police matter..." "Come along, Amanda." "I'll see you later." "It's not fair, Dad." "I was in the next room." "I didn't leave him alone with Michael Jackson." "There are over 800,000 words in the English language." "The eyes speak a more precise code through their narrowing..." " We're not running a retard farm." " Josh." "...brow arches, dilations, blinking or the asymmetrical closure which I hadn't deciphered." "Don't you think this is getting out of hand?" "Cool it." "What did we say about giving your mom latitude for a couple days?" "I was suffering from thirst, but my language skills were relatively primitive, so I relied on phrases I'd memorized." "Yo!" "Let's get some juice down here!" "'Sup?" "Everyone taking' stupid pills around here?" "Juice me." "Oh, man, sweet." "He's like the Indian from Cuckoo's Nest." "Wait." "Did he just learn to talk in one day?" "No." "Lori, that's impossible." " Right, honey?" " Can you understand me, Kyle?" " Go on, do it again." " Mom!" "Is that how you talk to a dog?" ""Go on, do it again"?" "Watch this." "Kyle, speak." "I felt weird when Mike Suby put his hand down my pants, 'cause all I could think about were these warts on his hand." "Ha!" "It's amazing." "Autism typically involves mimicry, but Kyle isn't emotionally withdrawn." "His behaviors aren't fixated." "Can he understand us or not?" "I can't say." "I've never dealt with anyone like him before." "Suby." "Nice one!" " I can't wait to test him." " Why haven't the police found anything?" " Somebody has to be missing this kid." " So far no one's filed a report." "The whole thing is really strange." "Even stranger, he doesn't have a belly button." "No belly button." "I saw for myself." "Kyle's stomach is totally smooth." " How could that be?" " He's extraordinary." "Nicole, you said just a few days." "Well, I'm not sending him back to that facility." "You are so wrapped up in this kid." " He can't stay here indefinitely." " I know." "Social Services promised to find a safe spot for him by Monday." " Monday." " Monday." "Come on, boys, let's get to work." "Whoa." "Slow down, Rain Man." "I haven't finished grading the last one." "You're kidding." "That was an hour test." "How long did it take him, five minutes?" "Yeah." "And he got them all right!" "What is this kid, seriously?" "Freaky, man." "Hello." "Dr. Fields, please." "Try not to move, Kyle." "Damn." "When's the last time you had this calibrated?" " I go away for a week..." " I ran two MRls this morning." " You blind?" "Look, it's a mess." " What is it?" "The equipment's on the fritz." "See this red area here?" "That's the active part of the brain." "Yeah." "So?" "You and I use maybe seven percent of our brains at any given time." "Einstein used nine percent of his brain." "Rupert here uses two percent." " It means he's a super-genius?" " It means mechanical failure." " Come back another time." " What if the machine's right?" "Hypothetically speaking, with this type of neural hyperactivity, he'd be prone to all sorts of seizures, strokes, tumors." "Tumors." "Wow." "It's been a busy day, huh, kiddo?" "Good night, Kyle." "Sweet dreams." "Hey, dude." "You're not gonna wig out on me, right?" "I mean, if something weird starts to happen, like you foam at the mouth, don't do it here." "Go get my mom." "Damn, I miss Charlotte." "Charlotte's Miss Playpen, dude." "The magazine?" "My mom hid her." "Where?" "I don't know, my brother." "I know not." "Here." "You're gonna need that." " What's wrong?" " First drink, then talk." "Hi!" "Hi, Harry!" "Ooh." "An ancient ceremony was underway involving spastic gyrations." "The heat made me sweat and I needed something to drink." " Who's that?" " I don't know, but he's cute." "So spill it already." "I hope you weren't too set on hooking up with Declan." "Hey, beer bong!" " Maybe I don't want to know after all." " Yeah." "Then I wouldn't go in there." "Chug, chug, chug!" "Chug, chug, chug!" "At the children's home, the other captives referred to a strange place." "I finally realized I'd arrived..." "in hell." "Eww." "The appearance of an unknown enemy had begun to agitate the group." "Party's over!" "Hold it right there." "Nobody move!" "I dropped my phone." " Relax." " I didn't do anything." "Tell the judge that." " Whoa!" " What happened?" "Whoa, snap!" "Did you see that?" " Whoa." "He's gonna cut himself." " He just walked into a window!" "Get back here." "Leave her alone!" " Leave her alone." " She didn't do anything!" "Cool it, kid." "You're fried." "I remembered how the snake had tried to frighten me." "Oh!" "Whoa!" "Oh." "I hoped this creature would have as much sense as the snake." "Go home." "Go home!" "I am..." "leaking." "God." "What happened to you?" "I don't know, Mom." "There's no blood on any doors, and the windows ain't broken." "That's OK." "We'll figure it out tomorrow." "The images reminded me I had no memory of ever being small." "What am I?" "Well, Kyle, that's a difficult question to answer." "You're a boy." "A special boy, and boys are human beings." "Even with years of historical research, the more humans try to define themselves, the more they drown in their own confusion." "...evolutionist point of view." "You... know not." "Now this one." "It will help you detox." "Forget it." "One more sip and this place becomes a barfatorium." "Focus on something else." "Like, say, your knight in shining armor." " What?" " Don't give me that." "The guy who saved your ass last night." "The guy with all the Jackie Chan moves." "The guy who carried you home." "Oh, my God." "Kyle." "I thought I dreamt that." "So does your dream have digits?" "Yeah, mine." "Remember that short-bus kid I told you about?" "Hi, babe." "Apparently, not all forms of greetings are appropriate." "You scared me." "What is scared?" "Oh." "Scared is fear." "Like..." "Ahh!" "I get scared." "What?" "What are you scared of?" "Everything." "I don't know what..." "Kyle, I can't imagine how strange and scary the world must feel to you right now." "But it will get better." "I swear." "Help me Mom." "I'm gonna take care of you, Kyle." "I promise." "Hey." "I can't believe I offered to fix their computer." "Their hard drive's fried and photos are on it." "I think Tim's mug scared it." " You'll figure it out." "You always do." " Yeah." " Stephen?" " Yeah?" "I can't do it." "I can't send Kyle away." " Nicole." " Not the way he is now." "We talked about this." "We agreed." "He's just so vulnerable." "And even the best facilities can't give Kyle enough care and attention." "Are you gonna drop your other cases?" "You're already consumed by your work." "Now you want to treat patients at home?" "Just this one." "There's something remarkable about him." "I feel for the kid." "You know I do." "But we have enough going on with our own kids." " Our own family." " Just until we figure out who he is," " and where he belongs." " But we may never know." "I know it's asking a lot." "Yeah." "Too much." "Check with Lou Daniels." "Maybe Social Services has something good for him." "I can't seem to find his file." "I've got nothing for him, Nicole." "I'm sorry." "Thank you, Lou." "Come on, now." "Where are you?" "Don't touch that." "Those are for killing rats." "Rats are your enemy." "No, but when they start paying rent, they can put down people traps." "No, Kyle, we don't want them in the house." "So you kill them?" "Yeah." "I guess." "Ha!" "There it is!" "Man." "Damn it!" "Whereas verbal communication was so random and contradictory, this language was a logical math-based shorthand that made perfect..." "Oh, come on." "Wow." "That's it." "That's the one." "How did you...?" "You find this?" " Why'd you do that?" " You said you missed her." "Take a shot." "Shoot some hoops?" "All right." "Let me show you." "Now you." "Nice!" "Nice!" "OK." "Kyle's gonna be down in a sec." "Look, I have a favor to ask each of you." "Before you all jump down my throat, I'd like you to think about it." "I was thinking..." "I was hoping that you wouldn't mind if Kyle stayed with us a while longer."