"Mother?" "!" "Mother!" "Mommy?" "Mommy?" "Mother?" "Christine?" "Didn't you hear me knocking?" "Hello, christine." "Hello, mother." "It's been a long time." "Six years." "Yeah." "You're all wet." "Oh, I'm sorry." "I suppose you had to work overtime at the bank." "No." "No." "I would have been here on time" "Except for this storm hit." "And, oh, I could hardly see for the last 40 miles." "It's pretty awful." "I made some cookies for you." "Brewed tea." "Oh, it's cold." "You were late." "Well, I'll just heat it up." "No, I-I really don't want any tea, thank you." "But you like tea." "It makes me a little nervous." "Oh, we can't have that." "What does that mean?" "Well, if you don't like tea, I-I have some milk." "No, no." "No." "I didn't mean that kind of nervous, mother." "I, uh, I got over my breakdown a long time ago." "I don't want to talk about it." "Look, I'm, I'm sorry that I didn't call" "To tell you I was gonna be a little late." "You really didn't have to wait up." "Oh, well, it's all right." "Maybe it is time to turn in." "It's getting a little late." "I, um, I put you in the guest bedroom." "The guest room?" "Well..." "The guest room has a nice southern light," "And besides, I'm using your old room for storage." "Sure, that'll be fine." "Shall we go?" "Yeah." "I, uh, I thought you said you used it for storage." "Oh, well, I do my knitting in there." "I guess I left the light on." "Hurry up and get into your room." "It's..." "You're..." "It's cold out here and you're all wet." "Night, mother." "Good night." ""three blind mice, three blind mice,"" ","see how they run. ,"" "Shh!" "" they all ran after the farmer's wife ,"" ","she cut off their tails with a carving knife ,"" "Shh!" "Mother?" "Shh-shh-shh!" "Mother?" "!" "Ah, good morning." "What are you doing in there?" "Oh, I was knitting, waiting for you to wake up." "Well, I thought I heard voices." "You don't look like you're awake yet." "I don't think you got enough sleep." "No, I'm tired." "I guess I'll go take a shower." "Good." "I'll just start your breakfast." "I'm not hungry." "It'll do you good." "Just a little something." "Dear diary, mommy bought me the most beautiful dress today." "It was so expensive." ""but we're not going to tell dad," mommy said." "We had so much fun." "I love her so much..." "So much..." "So much..." "She hasn't changed a thing in years." "Oh, christine." "Good." "I just filled up your plate." "Oh, I'll just have some juice." "Now, chris, you know how important a good breakfast is." "Why'd you leave all that junk in my room?" "Were you in your room?" "Well, you've redone the rest of the house." "Well, I'm doing one room at a time." "Well, I didn't know if you'd ever come home and visit." "I thought I heard voices in there." "Voices?" "Oh, I, uh, I" "Had the radio on." "I'm listening to the plays" "On the public broadcasting system." "You heard the radio." "It didn't sound like the radio to me." "It sounded like you and someone else." "A child's voice." "Yoo-hoo, mrs." "Matthews!" "Oh." "I got your cosmetics." "Boy, what a day to make deliveries, huh?" "Well, we all got to make a buck." "Whoa!" "Chris!" "What a surprise!" "Oh, it's so good to see you!" "You look terrific." "Hey." "Hey." "Do you like my hair?" "I try a different color every year." "I haven't seen you for, what, how many years?" "Six." "Oh..." "Well, I'll just go upstairs and get your check." "Okay." "So where is this handsome man" "I've heard so much about?" "We broke up." "Oh." "Oh, boy." "I stuck my foot in that one, huh?" "Boy, I guess I haven't changed." "Oh, I'm sorry, though, I mean, if you are." "I'm not." "Just didn't work out." "So is it good to see your mom?" "Sure." "Um, you know," "She's in your old room a lot." "What do you mean?" "Well, since I moved back in with mom and dad," "I'm sleeping in the same room I always did." "Remember?" "We could always see" "Right into each other's rooms" "And send signals across the street?" "Well, um, every time I go to bed," "The light in your room is on." "She's just listening to the radio." "She just seems a little low to me." "She's fine." "You want something to drink?" "Huh?" "No, no, thanks." "She's fine." "Didn't we have fun being cheerleaders?" "Lean to the left, lean to the right!" "Stand up, sit down, fight, fight, fight!" "You're the best two cheerleaders they ever had." "Oh..." "Here you go, toni." "Thank you." "Come over tonight." "I can't." "My brother's coming by." "Oh, good ol' chuck, huh?" "Okay, tomorrow night." "Make it a date." "Okay." "Okay." "Okay." "Bye, mrs." "Matthews." "Good-bye, toni." "she looks just like her mother." "She's such a nice girl." "Well, I'm going downstairs to do the laundry." "Aw..." "He didn't like dinner." "There you are, chuck." "I made your favorite." "Mom, you're the greatest." "This is terrific." "Thanks, mom." "Well, I think I'll turn in now" "So that you two can have a nice visit." "Good night." "Good night." "Night, mom." "You know," "Mom worries about you sometimes." "No, she doesn't." "She's, uh, never forgiven me for having a breakdown." "That was like saying to her, "you are a lousy mother."" "Chris, come on." "And I'm not married, and, uh, I don't have a big house" "And I have no kids and she hates me for it." "You got to cut it out, chris." "You have the rest of your life." "Everyone fails in some way." "You've got to learn to live with it." "Now, come on." "Lighten up, huh?" "Okay." "You get out of here." "Well, such a talented little girl." "See, there's a cat, dog..." "And a cow and a bird and a rabbit, too." "Oh, yes!" "Did I do a good picture?" "Oh, you always do everything so well." "Girl:" "I'm glad." "I want to be perfect, mommy." "You're always such a good little girl." "You'll never disappoint me will you, chrissie?" "Never, never, never, because I love you this much." "Do you love me?" "Oh, more than anyone in the whole world." "I'm glad." "I love you, mommy." "You sure you don't want to come along?" "I don't feel like it." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Okay, well, I'll be back around 4:00." "All right." "Bye." "Have fun." "Thank you." "All right, come on out." "Look, I've seen you." "Come out!" "Okay, listen..." "If you don't come out right now..." "I'll take mother away with me and you'll never see her again." "No, you won't." "I'm not supposed to let you see me." "Who are you?" "I'm chrissie." "Don't you know that?" "What are you doing here?" "I live here." "You live here?" "Where are your mother and father?" "My mommy is lucille." "No, she's not." "But she is." "When you left, I came back." "She called to me, and I liked her voice" "Because she wanted to love me" "The way I am and the way I've stayed." "You're going to have to leave, you know that." "I like it here now." "This is my room." "Get off my bed." "This isn't your room." "Mommy comes to visit me here every day." "She's not your mommy." "She is, too." "She is not!" "She belongs to me now." "Will you just get out of here?" "You can't make me." "She doesn't want me to leave her alone." "She loves me." "She doesn't love you anymore." "Don't say that." "Don't say that!" "Don't...!" "Oh, god." "Nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee!" "Nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee!" "Nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee!" "Nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee!" "Nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee!" "nah-nee-nah-nee-nah-nee!" "Stop it!" "Stop!" "No!" "" sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines , ding-ding-dong, ding-ding-dong, frvore jacques, frvore jacques... ,"" "Oh, chrissie, you sing like an angel." ""sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines , ding-ding-dong, ding-ding-dong. ,"" "Mother..." "Go away!" "Mother..." "You can't have her, she's mine." "Mother, it's me-- christine." "So what?" "I'm her baby now." "You're just a visitor." "Chrissie, let's sing that song together." ""frvore jacques, frvore jacques , dormez-vous?" "Dormez-vous?" "sonnez les matines, sonnez les matines , ding-ding-dong , frvore jacques, frvore jacques"" "Mother..." "Mother..." "Mother, come with me." "We have to go, okay?" "Mother... mother... quiet!" "shut up!" "no!" "look, mother... mother?" "Please listen to me." "mother!" "I'm not ribbons." "and I'm not diplomas!" "mother, please." "Please, please!" "I'm not trophies." "I'm a human being!" "and I'm not perfect!" "and I'm real." "it's too late." "You can't change anything now." "she's all mine." "I'm going to be everything you aren't." "What are you going to be?" "miss perfect?" "!" "what are you going to be?" "Little miss know-it-all?" "What are you going to be?" "!" "Miss popularity?" "how many awards are you going to win?" "!" "This isn't real!" "You're not real!" "Mother, look at me!" "It's too late." "You stayed away too long." "No." "Mother, you know, you know what we'll do?" "We'll throw-- we'll throw everything out." "We will, okay?" "We'll start all over." "She's already started over with me." "No!" "You're not real!" "Mother, I'm real!" "Mother, listen to me!" "Chrissie?" "Yes." "Yes, mommy?" "We can go now." "And we'll never, ever come back." "Never and never and never." "No!" "Stop it!" "Mother..." "Mother, I need you." "I..." "Need" "You!" "I do." "Let's sing, mommy." "Come on, mommy, let's sing." "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Mom..." "Mama." "Don't leave me." "Please." "Don't leave me." "Honey..." "Honey?" "I'm here." "Okay." "Honey."