Touched by an Angel

( playing graceful classical music )

( classical music becomes quieter )

( cassette player playing pleasant classical music )

Do you think I should take up jogging, Tess?

Jogging is just walking fast enough to be uncomfortable.

Does he look like he's having fun?

Well, he's not joggin'. He's runnin'.

That's right. He's running away from something.

But he might as well try to outrun his shadow.

( Children singing "Greensleeves" )

Listen. Oh.

She looks like a little angel.

And she sings like one too.

Present company excepted.

I'm not that bad, am I?

Uh, heh, her name is Melissa.

Ow!

All right, now.

What's going on?

Melissa's not singing.

Why aren't you singing, Melissa?

I don't know.

You don't know?

No.

Liar!

I was just listening to the voices.

Now see, Randy, she was just listening to the voices.

No, not your voices, the other voices.

What other voices?

The ones I hear in my head.

That's enough now. Quiet.

You know, Melissa,

I thought you wanted to sing.

Until you're ready to join the group,

you and your voices may go and sit in the corner.

( Humming The Twilight Zone theme )

All right, children, once again.

One, two, three, four.

The poor child. She's hearing voices.

Can we help her?

Help is on the way.

But it may be the wrong kind of help.

He may just run them both into trouble.

( Della Reese & The Verity All-Stars' "Walk With You" playing )

Wednesday. I had another nightmare.

It's the same one. It's always the same one.

And that sound.

It used to be that I only dreamed about it,

but now, even during the day when it's quiet,

it invades my waking thoughts as well.

It's getting to the point where I'm afraid to go to sleep...

and I'm afraid to wake up.

( graceful classical music playing )

Bravo!

I'm sorry. I tried to knock, but...

Yes?

I'm Monica.

The university sent me.

The graduate assistant.

But they told me I couldn't have one this year.

Well, maybe somebody finally realized how much you need one.

Adam Litowsky.

I, uh... I hope you like children.

Oh, yes, I love them. Little ones and grown up ones.

Does this one belong to you?

Um, that's Katie.

I took that last year up at our cabin... or my cabin.

Katie's mum and I aren't together anymore.

I'm sorry to hear it.

I'm sorry to say it, but we all have to learn to move on.

And that sounds like my 10:00.

I hope you're ready to work, Monica.

Mrs. Houghton.

Oh, yes, Dr. Litowsky.

This is my associate, Monica.

Nice to meet you.

And you. And you.

This is Benjamin.

And this is Melissa.

Hello, Melissa.

Hi.

I bet you're wondering why you have to come and see a doctor,

when you don't even feel sick, huh?

Mm-hm.

Well, I'm a different kind of doctor.

I can help you feel better about things like,

uh, your friends,

or problems you might be having in school.

Stuff like that.

But I don't have any problems.

Ha. Well...

the best part about coming to visit me

is the playroom down the hall.

Monica.

There's some pretty fun toys in here, don't you think?

Mm, yeah.

What are these for?

Hey. Those are my toys.

Andrew. What brings you here?

I'm still waiting for orders.

But in the meantime, the doctor needs a painter,

and apparently you need some backup.

I do?

So I'm told.

Melissa, right?

Yeah. Andrew.

Uh, now Dr. Litowsky thinks this wall here is really boring.

So he wants me to paint something on it.

But I... I don't know. Do you have any ideas?

Something to make him relax.

He seems kind of nervous.

So a relaxing picture?

Yeah.

Okay. Let me think about that.

Who is singing to her?

Are these the voices of people that she knows,

or are they characters from...? From a book?

She won't tell me.

Well...

Melissa is seven-years-old.

Her father is gone a lot on business.

She has been the complete center of her mother's world,

and then suddenly, a new baby arrives,

crying, demanding and getting everything that he wants.

Melissa now has to compete for your attention,

so she pretends that she's hearing voices.

She can't describe them because she doesn't hear them.

But she knows that even talking about them

is unusual enough to get your attention.

So she does, and it works.

Here you are.

So that's all this is?

Well, I wouldn't underestimate sibling rivalry.

I mean, in some cases,

it can even pose a threat to the baby

if the older sibling is angry enough.

Melissa keeps asking if she can be alone with Benjamin.

Absolutely not.

Let me meet with her and see what I can determine.

But in the meantime,

do not leave Melissa alone with the baby.

Hi, Andrew.

Hi.

Melissa, are you having fun in here without me?

Yeah.

Can I play too?

Mm. We weren't really playing.

We were just talking.

Oh, you were?

Well, uh, Melissa has some ideas for Andrew for the wall.

That's... That's very good.

Let's go with that.

Great. Okay. Well, I have some paint to mix.

So, um, I'll be back in about an hour.

Thanks.

I can take it from here.

See you later, Melissa.

Bye. Bye-bye.

So, uh...

Now, if you could paint anything on that wall, what would it be?

Is it my wall or your wall?

Pretend it's your wall at home in your room.

What would it look like?

It would have shelves on it.

Okay. What would be on the shelves?

My dolls.

Oh, you have a lot of dolls?

Yeah, about a hundred.

Oh.

Do they ever...? Do they ever talk to you?

Or sing to you?

Whose voice do you hear when you hear voices?

Do you think maybe

that it's pretend voices that you hear?

No.

They're not pretend.

It's real.

Nobody will be angry with you if you tell the truth, Melissa.

I am telling the truth.

Is that why I'm in trouble? Because of the voices?

No. You're not in any trouble.