"Damn it." "They got us in our scopes." "It's infrared." "Come here." "Stop!" "What the hell are you doin'?" "What the hell's goin' on out here?" "Do you have any idea how long I've been lookin' for you?" "Scared you there, huh?" "What's goin' on?" "You all right?" "You OK?" "Come here." "What the hell's goin' on?" "I can't remember." "Do you remember what time you were supposed to be home?" "I do." "You're an hour and a half late." "Don't tell Dad about this, OK?" "Please, Charlie, you gotta swear that you won't tell him." "You know, you would pull this shit while he's gone." "I'll tell Dad, just as soon as they get back." "You'll tell him." "Please, Charlie?" "I'll weed the garden." "I swear." "Here, put that on." "James, get that." "James, get the damn door!" "For cryin' out loud." "Damn." "Where is the boy that belongs to this bike?" "Get your ass down here now!" "Damn it, Charlie!" "He's my sister's kid." "You're Charlie?" "Yeah." "Hi, Mrs. Bennett." "James, get your butt down here!" "Yeah, you." "Get down here." "That's him." "That is the boy who broke my fence." "Jimmy, did you break Mrs. Bennett's fence?" "Don't give it a second thought, Mrs. Bennett." "I'll fix it." "You didn't break it." "What do you have to say, young man?" "I'm sorry." "What?" "I'm sorry." "You're sorry." "When are you going to come and fix my fence?" "We'll take care of it right away." "He broke it." "I want him to fix it." "OK." "Fair enough." "We'll be right over." "Do you know who that is?" "Yes." "Maddy Bennett." "Go on, get dressed." "She's got a gun." "She shot at me." "I thought you didn't remember." "I bet she scared the memory out of me." "Jimmy, shut up." "Her house is haunted." "I'm sure of it." "Boy, you are really startin' to bug me." "Billy Ray told me he saw her eat a cat." "Guts and all." "She has seances, talks to dead people." "I'm sure of it." "Billy Ray's full of shit." "Billy Ray's f amily is full of shit." "But Charlie, she's" "Shut up!" "The scene of the crime." "Jesus, kid." "What the hell did you hit this thing with?" "My arm." "Man." "Let me see that." "That hurt?" "How about that?" "Gee!" "You jerk!" "Hold that." "Here." "Stand there." "Hold it still." "Hold it!" "You gotta be workin' here." "Hold that." "I'm gonna go into town and get the wood." "You go ahead and get started cleaning' this up." "You said you wouldn't leave me alone with her." "I did not." "She has a gun, and she shot at me." "Yeah?" "She hit you?" "What you cryin' about then?" "Besides, it's just salt." "I can do it." "I've got it, really." "I can do it." "I've got it, really." "OK, now I've got it." "You ever used one of these before?" "A hammer?" "Hold the nail." "What?" "Set the nail in the wood." "Higher." "Mind your hand." "Don't move." "Little tap....harder." "Jeez!" "You moved!" "You silly twerp!" "You hit my hand!" "Use the other hand." "You're scared." "I am not." "Then pick up the nail." "Come on." "You have to look at it to set it." "Open your eyes." "Don't move." "See?" "You didn't move." "Where are your parents?" "Dad's in Boston working." "Your mother, too?" "She's my stepmother." "Right." "The level's wrong." "Lower the nail." "Well, what was it?" "If you've got something to say, say it." "Well?" "It's just that..." "Just what?" "I can't fix your stupid fence... if you stand over me all day givin' me orders!" "Good point." "I'm outta here." "Damn it!" "What did you do?" "You hit that with a hammer?" "No, she did." "Yeah, right." "I'm serious, Charlie." "She did." "Nice try." "You're not gettin' out of it, though." "Out of what?" "Finishing the fence." "Charlie told me what happened." "Dad said it's your responsibility, Jimmy." "James, and I'm not going back." "You know, James, we all have to do things we don't want to." "Maybe I can help you." "I don't want your help." "Hey, play nice." "Sorry." "Yeah, you look like it." "Are you in there?" "You up there?" "Bobby?" "Hi." "I decided to skip my afternoon meeting." "Your dad can finally make it up this weekend." "Who's Bobby?" "My son." "Live around here?" "He's dead." "Shit." "Did you say something?" "Hi, I'm Mary Neubauer." "Charles told me what happened." "I just wanted to say how sorry I was." "Why are you sorry?" "You ran out so quickly this morning, James." "I thought we might-- your f ather and l-- thought that it might be nice... for the three of us to take a ferry trip... out to the island this weekend." "I can't." "I've hired James to paint the fence... haven't I?" "I gotta paint the fence." "Well, don't you think... we should discuss this with your f ather first?" "He'll be home tonight." "We'll talk about it then, OK?" "Well, now, I'll see you at dinner, OK, honey?" "Wonderful to meet you, Mrs. Bennett." "$2.00." "What?" "To paint the fence." "I'll pay you $2.00 an hour." "What makes you so sure I wanna paint your stupid fence anyway?" "I'll smack you if you speak to me ever... like you just spoke to your mother." "She's not my mother." "She is now." "She doesn't give a shit about me." "So?" "What do you say?" "I'm sorry." "I should have hit her back." "Salt witch." "The garden." "Yeah, I'm sorry." "No, forget about that." "Come here." "Hand me that socket wrench." "Right there." "There you go." "Here." "Come here." "Gimme a hand here." "Hold it." "Say, listen, buddy, your dad called." "He's not gonna make it for dinner tonight." "I'm sorry about that." "Hand me the 7 /16, will you?" "OK, Nathan." "You'll be back tomorrow night, yeah?" "Yeah, in the..." "Yeah, I know." "OK, darling." "Please just don't skip another night, really." "Bye, honey." "It is exactly six minutes past noon." "If you refuse to be punctual, I refuse to pay." "What?" "Don't mumble." "You're gonna have a hard time... finding somebody else to do this job... for two bucks an hour, you know." "Would $2.20 help you be punctual?" "I guess." "Speak up." "Right." "I want that last plank put up." "I want that brushwood cleared down to the shed on the beach... by the time I'm back." "Right?" "Charles." "How are you?" "The prodigal returns." "Help me with my bags, would you, kind sir?" "Yes, bro." "Thank you." "Have you talked to James lately?" "Why, what did he do?" "What did he do?" "He didn't do anything." "What?" "What makes you think he did anything?" "Then why are you asking, Charlie?" "Yeah." "Good point." "You're only here for a day." "Why screw it up talkin' to your kid?" "Hell, he's twelve." "He'll be a crackhead in two years." "You won't understand him then anyway." "You're losing him, Nathan." "You still growin' pot out back?" "No good for my tomatoes." "Sucks all the nitrogen up out of the soil... just like it sucked all the brain cells out of my head." "That was a long time ago." "So what should I talk to him about?" "I don't know." "Baseball?" "He doesn't like baseball." "So you've met?" "I got it, Charlie." "You know, he's my sister's kid, Nathan." "His dad's screwin' up." "It's my job to crawl up his butt." "You relish doin' it, don't you?" "No, I live for it." "It gets a little slow around here." "A job worth doing is worth doing right." "I like your hair like that." "I found a couple extra planks down by the shed... so I figured, what the heck?" "Now!" "Let's paint!" "Come on, paint!" "You're not listening." "What?" "You're not keeping the rhythm of the music at all." "I'm not trying to." "I thought you were." "You did not." "This doesn't mean I have... to split the money with you, does it?" "Good." "You know, Mozart wrote this when he was about your age." "No way !" "Yes, way !" "Does Mom have any Mozart?" "Yeah, I think so." "Did he really write his first symphony... when he was only eight?" "You're askin' me?" "Yeah, he did." "That was the "Symphony in E Flat."" "Maddy says that..." "I'm gonna get inspired like that, too, someday." "You know, I bet you will." "How come you don't use fresh water?" "Seawater's best." "It's salty." "They're not opening." "They will." "So your husband died in Mexico?" "It was on a dig." "Terrence was an anthropologist... and he was standing at the base of a stone wall... and it collapsed." "What happened to Bobby?" "He was killed in the war." "My mom was killed, too." "Do you ever talk to her?" "Who, my ma?" "Nah, she's dead." "So?" "So I don't talk to her." "They're opened." "We're here, and if we use our eyes... we can see this f ar." "And if we use modern technology... we can see this f ar." "And if we use our hearts and minds... we can see and know amazing things." "Mozart heard the voices of the angels." "The angels are all out here somewhere... and here." "Do you hear voices?" "He's spending a lot of time out there... and I don't know anything about her." "That's enough!" "I've known Maddy for over thirty years." "Listen to me." "James has found a friend, somebody he trusts." "He hasn't been this full of life since before Lillian died." "I'm not gonna take that away from him." "You know as well as I do anyone who's a little eccentric... in a small town is considered nuts." "They thought that Charlie was the Unabomber, for God sakes." "These people probably still think he's the Unabomber." "Hello, people." "I'm home!" "Hey, Dad." "Hey, Jimbo." "One, two, three, four." "One, two, three." "Go on, buster." "You and Mary been gettin' along OK?" "Yeah, I guess." "Look, I'm sorry I've been away so much lately." "Work's just been kinda rough." "It's OK, Dad." "You've been busy." "Charlie told me that somethin' happened." "Remember your first day at that school after your mom died... when I sent you to Aunt Edie's, that thing happened?" "I froze." "I can't really remember anything, OK?" "That was two years ago... and the counselor helped you with that problem... and it's all gone, isn't it?" "I'll get it." "Isn't it?" "He's indisposed at the moment." "Who is it, honey?" "It's Phil." "Just a second." "I gotta go get this." "I'll be right back." "This really is just a very inconvenient time." "He needs his parents." "I told him you can call him in the morning." "James and I are talking." "Everything's fine." "Nathan" "Relax, please." "What is it?" "I can't talk long, so just--What is it?" "You didn't tell me that thing happened before." "I'm sorry I didn't believe you." "I don't care." "Hey, Maddy, you know, I've been reading about the Morse code." "Have you?" "Why?" "I don't know." "What is that?" "Morse." "How many beats did I tap?" "Four." "Were they long or short?" "I don't know." "You didn't listen." "I did, too." "I'm not talking about those wind flaps... on the side of your head." "Here." "You have to feel it here." "Listen." "Wait." "Hold on." "Close your eyes." "Short, long, long, long." "The letter "J."" "Two. "A."" ""M." James." "Intuitive." "Anticipate." "Always anticipate." "Hey, give me something harder." ""R"-something..." "Listen, James." "There's a pause between each letter, equal to a dash." "It's like music and painting." "It's like Mozart." ""Jam?"" "That's your call sign." ""Mad?" Who's mad?" "You are." "The in-spir...." ""Inspiration."" "Like Einstein." "How's the fence comin' along?" "Done." "Finished it a couple of days ago." "So, what do you and Maddy talk about?" "I don't know." "All sorts of stuff." "Like what?" "Nature, death, physics..." "Thoreau." "Thoreau?" "Yeah." "Know of him?" "Yeah, I've heard of him." "She's pretty weird, but she's fun." "Hey, Dad?" "What?" "You ever dream about Mom?" "Never mind." "Go out there to the rock, out there on the point." "How am I supposed to know which rock is "the rock"?" "You'll know it when you see it." "Rock." "Oh, look, another rock." "Maddy, I found it!" "Wait!" ""The soul leaves the body..." ""as a schoolboy jumps from a school door..." ""suddenly, with joy."" ""There is no horror in death."" "What the hell did that mean?" "You're a witch." "I was sitting on that rock... on the night of the fifteenth of September, 1974... when the signal lamp flashed that message." "Bobby was in Vietnam." "I rushed into the house." "I rushed up into the room." "I thought he must be home." "I..." "The light was off." "The signal lamp was unplugged." "I touched it." "It was cold." "I rushed through the house." "There was no one there." ""Mother, the soul leaves the body..." ""as a schoolboy jumps out of the school door... suddenly, with joy."" "A week passed, and I got this telegram." ""We are deeply saddened to report that your son..." ""Corpsman First Class Robert Terrence Bennett..." ""was killed in action on September..."" ""15..." ""1974..." ""aboard the signal ship, U.S.S. Pershing..." ""at the battle of Hai Phong."" ""He served his country valiantly."" "All aboard were lost." "I brought the Bushmills." "I forgot you said you were coming over." "Sam, this is my good new friend James." "James, Dr. Jenkins." "I suppose you want some dinner." "That was the plan." "You must be starving." "I guess." "How you doin'?" "You OK?" "I suppose she's been talking your ear off, has she?" "Just wait a minute." "Stay right there." "I know what you're doing, and I want you to stop right now." "It's not right." "..and I'm shaking my fist at her..." "He's absolutely drunk!" "Wait a second, wait a second!" "We were on our bikes through Naples... and I asked her to marry me on Mount Vesuvius." "You did not." "All right, I didn't!" "But I was on my knees!" "You were not." "You were dead drunk, and you fell over." "So, you wanna see balance?" "I'll show you balance." "Funiculi funiculi funiculi funicula" "Funiculi funiculi funicula" "What's that?" "Tchaikovsky?" "Tchaikovsky !" "Are you gonna cut in?" "l--I can't dance." "Get over here!" "Follow her lead." "I do!" "Well, nature calls." "How did you guys meet?" "Oh, Sam was my husband's best friend." "We all met up in London." "Then, when my husband died..." "Sam bought two bicycles and took me off to Naples." "He wanted to cheer me up." "So, how come you guys are just friends?" "Damn you, Maddy Bennett... you haven't taken one of these pills!" "That's why." "And you promised me you'd stop smoking!" "And that's why." "Sam." "What?" "Your fly's open." "What are the pills for?" "Indigestion." "Indigestion, my ass!" "You're one of the stupidest women I've ever met in my life." "Do be careful not to f all down the steps." "I'll run down the steps." "Maddy, you really shouldn't smoke." "Don't you start." "I'm healthier than he is." "Maddy?" "What?" "Did it really happen?" "What do you think?" "You got some company here, buddy." "Well?" "Shall we go?" "Yeah, yeah." "Get the hell out of here." "Thanks, Charlie!" "Yeah, I know." "You'll help." "You'll come back." "You'll weed a lot." "You're a whole lot of help." "Take this ride on my bike, everything will be great." "Which way?" "So, let's go this way." "Let's go up the coast road." "I'd like to go this way." "You OK?" "You stop asking me that." "Open your eyes." "Open your eyes." "I can't!" "I can't do it!" "You have to look." "Don't make me do this!" "Trust me." "You have to look." "It'll hurt much less, I promise you." "Look." "Open your eyes." "That's right." "Open your eyes." "James, what do you see?" "What do you see?" "A raccoon!" "That's right." "Oh, God, it's a raccoon!" "Now, that's right." "Yes, dear." "You tell me." "Come on, dear." "You tell me." "I don't" "Tell me, dear." "Tell me." "Why'd I have to yell?" "Why couldn't I keep my stupid mouth shut?" "Dad says that animals were unimportant." "Mom thought that they were." "So she tried to miss it." "I kept telling her I was OK." "She never knew." "She never knew!" "Yes, she did." "You know what my son told me?" "He told me that for every man, woman, and child... that's hurt and terrified, there are comforters." "And he said one day..." "I was easing a wounded boy in my arms... but he was crying for his mother... and I couldn't comfort him." "I heard someone beside me say..." ""I will take him."" "There was a soft, strange, white light." "I didn't dare look up... but I knew who it was." "Do you think that my mom had someone like that?" "I'm sure she did." "Why did you wanna come this way?" "I saw you on the bridge... the night you broke my fence." "When I froze." "I knew you had a terrible grief." "What if you don't know the Morse code?" "We have to open our minds." "Bobby and I knew the Morse code... but people communicate differently." "Like Mozart and his angels." "But how come I didn't hear her?" "Perhaps because you never talked about your grief." "Grief often gets in the way." "I'd like you to read this." ""Message two" ""September 22, 1974." ""The day the telegram came." ""Was sitting on the rock when a passing ship signaled..." ""Mother, I am alive and loving you." ""My body is with thousands of other mother's boys..." ""near Saigon." ""Get this back to others, if you can." ""It's awful for us when you grieve..." ""and we can't tell you we're all right." ""The capacity for believing is enlarged tremendously..." ""by experience." ""If you could only fix in your mind that I am I." ""Not a ghost..." ""but a being just as much as I ever was."" ""You have never f ailed me, mother."" "What's wrong?" "You didn't come to bed." "What's that?" "From Mrs. Bennett." "It's a book of messages from her son Bobby after he died." "What?" "This is yours." "We don't want you to have any more contact with James, Maddy." "How could you do this to a twelve-year-old kid?" "What is it exactly that I'm doing?" "This is a young boy who's never come to terms... with the death of his mother, Mrs. Bennett." "How could you possibly give him a book like that?" "To help him understand." "Understand what?" "Something you f abricated?" "You made this up, Maddy." "There's no horror in death... and the sooner you understand that... the sooner you'll be able to help James." "It's staying alive that's difficult, isn't it?" "I'm not gonna let you hurt my child." "I'm not hurting him." "Oh, and I am?" "This is dangerous." "Can you understand that?" "How you choose to justify the death of your son... that's your business... but I'm not gonna let you impose this f antasy... on a child as fragile as James is." "So, please, just stay away." "He needed someone to talk to." "I don't want him here." "So be it." "Where's my book?" "We took it back to her." "It was mine!" "It was a gift!" "You had no right!" "James, knock it off." "You're forbidden to go over to Maddy's." "Come on." "Inside." "Yeah, come on, James, let's go inside and" "You're not my mother!" "Go to hell!" "What did you say?" "James, get back" "If you don't get your ass home... you're grounded for the rest of the summer, you hear me?" "How would you know?" "You're never home!" "What's wrong?" "Go away." "I don't want you to come here anymore." "Why?" "Because of Mary?" "No, because it isn't true, it didn't happen." "No." "Mary told you to say that!" "No." "Listen." "I talked to Bobby in my mind after he was killed... and then I wrote it all down." "The messages?" "I made them up." "You lied to me?" "Yes." "I did." "Why?" "Hey." "Is he there?" "No, I don't know where he is." "I'm over at Maddy's." "No, she's not here, either." "I don't" "OK." "Mary." "Mary, Mary, Mary, listen, listen." "I'm gonna find him." "Shit." "Oh, my God." "Aw, we don't know anything yet." "I mean, I didn't see any blood." "Look, I'm gonna go call the hospital." "All right, I'll keep looking." "Come on, Maddy !" "Come on, I can't carry you!" "You're gonna have to help me!" "Come on, Maddy !" "I know you can hear me!" "Wake up, Maddy !" "Wake up!" "Don't you dare die on me!" "Oh, my God." "Come on, Maddy !" "Wake up!" "Wake up, Maddy !" "James!" "Dad!" "I think she's dead!" "Wake up!" "Wake up, Maddy, come on!" "Go call Dr. Jenkins." "I just saw him in town." "Go on!" "Go!" "Call Jenkins!" "She's still breathing." "Hey, doc?" "Yeah." "Uh, her pulse seems a little low." "James." "James, come on." "She'll be OK, buddy." "Come on." "Oh, God!" "How is he?" "Oh, and James is-- James is all right, yeah?" "Trust me, he's OK..." "until I get his butt home." "Charlie, he's fine." "He's at Mrs. Bennett's." "What happened?" "Oh, my God, she's had a heart attack." "We're gonna stay the night until we know that she's OK." "Hey, Mary, you know, none of this is your f ault, by the way." "I'm just gonna say something, uh..." "You know, I'm a weirdo... and, uh, Maddy's a weirdo, and there's not really... a whole lot to like about either of us, but..." "James kinda seems to like both of us, and, uh... it's pretty much 'cause we just let him be who he is." "Uh, you know?" "Sad and all, you know?" "And we don't take any shit off of him, either." "And I do?" "Well, yeah." "Hey, bud--What are you doing?" "How's Maddy?" "She OK?" "Yeah." "She's just resting." "What about you?" "You OK?" "Yeah." "I'm fine." "You sure?" "Mm-hmm." "How long you been up?" "I think since 5:00." "5:00?" "Damn it, Maddy." "You almost died last night!" "You need antibiotics!" "Who are you?" "I can't stay !" "I've gotta get back to Boston!" "Get back to Boston." "I'm getting you a nurse." "No, you are not." "Sam, I'm a tough old english bitch." "I'll stay." "James, come on, we should go." "Let's go." "Come on." "Nathan, you got a minute?" "Downstairs." "Say good-bye, OK?" "Take care, Maddy." "When I found you, I didn't freeze." "I didn't even have to do my breathing." "I don't care what you say." "I believe it." "She's got me backed into a goddamned corner here." "It's all right, Dad." "She told me everything." "It's all a lie." "But she's my best friend... and she almost died, and I can't leave her." "I've gotta go to Detroit." "I want you home by the time I get back." "You got it?" "Mary's gonna call every couple hours... just to make sure everything's OK." "James, don't mess around with me." "She's gonna call every couple hours." "All right." "I'm staying!" ""Attention, attention, Lillian Neubauer." ""Please contact your son immediately at Maddy Bennett's."" "Maddy, wake up!" "Maddy, wake up!" "Wake up, Maddy !" "Maddy, I think it's my mom!" "Wake up!" "Wake up, Maddy." "Trem--Wake up!" "Trem..." "R-Rem..." "Trem, trem, grem-ka..." "Trem, trem, trem wer-ka..." "James, what the hell are you doing?" "God!" "You scared the shit out of me!" "Come on down and have a beer." "Man, now you don't even trust me?" "Dad sent you, didn't he?" "You know something, James?" "you're starting to really piss me off." "I knew it." "Hey, you little shit." "Think I enjoy driving around looking for your carcass?" "Quit thinking of your damn self all the time." "You scared the hell out of everybody." "Hey, I'm glad Maddy's OK, too." "Don't bust my balls." "Hey, shithead!" "What?" "You holler if you need me." "I won't." "Hey, butt-breath." "What?" "Holler if you need me." "I appreciate that." "No problem." "It's me, James." "You're not going anywhere until you talk to me!" "I have nothing to say to you!" "If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened." "Yeah, well, that may be true, but" "The question is, where do we go from he" "Just stop packing!" "Just shut up and leave me alone!" "You know, I'm fed up of you talking to me like this!" "You are gonna stay here until your f ather gets back!" "And Charlie can look after Mrs. Bennett!" "You don't get it!" "You're not my mother!" "I never wanted you in the first place!" ""September 30, 1974." ""I sit against the porch railing." ""The lamp by my armchair flashes" ""Attention" ""Lieutenant Wells told me to stand by a young marine today..." ""impel him to move to avoid danger." ""I could estimate the speed..." ""and determine the course of the shells." ""I nudged him here and there and kept him from being hurt." ""I asked if it was in answer to a prayer." ""Wells said no." ""Prayers are answered, mother..." ""but not according to the material ways..." ""of looking at things."" ""Number nine" ""I know that spirits return many times." ""I don't understand how this is accomplished." ""Is it voluntary?" "I do not know." ""But if I can't be your son, mother..." ""I'd rather take a flame over the other worlds."" ""Lillian Neubauer..." ""I'll see you soon." ""I love you..." ""more than words can tell." ""Boo."" "Charlie, where's James?" "Where's James?" "He's upstairs." "James?" "Relax." "James, get out here!" "Now!" "Don't you shush me!" "You get out here now." "I'll deal with you in a minute, Charlie." "All right." "Shut up, Charlie." "Told you." "You lied to me." "You lied." "I told you I wanted you home by the time I got back... and you practically move in here." "And I'm not gonna let you speak to Mary the way that you did." "I got half the mind to put you over my knee... and beat the hell out of you, but Mary wouldn't let me." "James, you go get your things." "We're going home now." "I'm not going anywhere." "Don't talk back to me!" "You get your things, we're going home." "I heard you say to Mary... that you wouldn't take this away from me!" "Well, I was wrong, and Mary was right." "This is all her f ault, everything!" "James, there's a lot of things that you don't understand!" "And there's a lot of things you don't understand, either!" "She loves you, James!" "I don't care how much she loves me!" "She's trying her damnedest to be part of our f amily !" "Oh, yeah?" "Well, she's trying too damn hard!" "Listen to me." "You need somebody just like I need somebody." "We can take care of ourselves, Dad!" "You never asked me if I wanted another mother!" "You just said here's your new mother!" "James, you don't know what you want!" "Oh, yes, I do!" "I want you to be home!" "I wanna talk about Mom!" "You never ever wanna talk about Mom." "You never wanna talk about what happened." "I was there!" "Mom died while I was holding her!" "And never once did you ask me what that was like!" "Maddy is someone who I can talk about anything I want!" "I froze on the road, Dad!" "I tried to tell you, but you wouldn't listen!" "I took Maddy to the bridge, and she made me talk about it!" "She listened, Dad!" "She was interested, Dad!" "The night that Mom died, when you were in your room..." "I heard you crying." "You said that you never got to tell her that you loved her." "You know what, Dad?" "Neither did I!" "She knew, James." "I'm sorry." "I'm really sorry." "Do you miss her, Dad?" "Terribly." "Terribly, buddy." "Me, too." "I won." "I'll be right back." "Sorry !" "He's a good kid." "Some socks and underwear." "Oh, why don't you give it to him?" "No." "Just take it." "You sure?" "Yeah." "Here." "Here's some socks and underwear." "From Mary." "Hey, Jimmy." "I really love you." "I love you, too, Dad." "I thought you wanted to talk to me." "Oh, boy." "Look at that." "That was awfully nice of her." "Yeah, it was." "You think Maddy's OK?" "She should be all right." "Yeah." "I'll be back later, though." "You call me if you need anything." "All right." "Thanks, Charlie." "What's wrong?" "Phew!" "I'm hungry." "What are you doing?" "Find my shoes, will you?" "I want to come downstairs." "I don't know if this is such a good idea." "You want to keep me in this room forever?" "Come on, then, let's go." "Hold on tight." "Towel, towel!" "Are you too warm?" "No." "I'm perfect." "James, could you read me some from Bobby's book?" "Sure." "I love you." "I love you." "I was afraid I wasn't gonna get to say that." "If it's not true, why do you want me to read it?" "Because it's beautiful." "You're a pretty good writer." ""I have not seen anyone with wings..." ""but we can cover any number of miles without f atigue." ""I think our bodies are composed like clouds..." ""but it's hard to say." ""Don't talk of houses..."" "Don't talk of houses or jewels." "Everyone will be stripped down to their souls... before this is done." ""When will it end?" "When or how?" "I cannot tell." ""I do not know the plan that is being evolved..." ""on this cast of the world's." ""As we progress, we shall discover..." ""even greater f acilities for communication." ""People invent machinery to improve..." ""on god's gift of perception..." ""but refuse to credit the voices..." ""and visions that inspired them." ""I am so busy that I do not think..." ""of saying the loving things I know you long to hear." ""I know more about you, more about mothers everywhere."" "Do you hear?" "Such beautiful voices." ""Some people will understand these messages." ""Others must find comfort in different ways." ""They will all come to understand in time."" ""The soul leaves the body..." ""as a schoolboy jumps from a school door..." ""suddenly, with joy."" "Say hello to Bobby." "And my mom." "Don't you think, uh... two weeks on a rock's enough?" "He's gotta find out for himself... that it's not gonna happen, Charlie." "I really wanted it to be true, Mary." "I didn't wanna believe that she was just seeing things." "Some people see things we don't." "Oh, God, I love you more than words can tell, James." "The lighthouse!" "Don't grieve." "Grief is remorse for things left undone." "I am closer to you now than I've ever been." "The ties of love continue." "I will always be with you." "Speak with me as if you could see my f ace." "I've reached a river of surpassing beauty." "I'm running down to the water... as we used to run down to the ocean... tingling with joy." "It may be that this is our point of egress." "Good-bye." "Good-bye for now, James."