The Absence of Milk in the Mouths of the Lost

- Dr Miller, dial 216. -

My beautiful baby girl.

I’ll never let you go.

Where’s Jessica? - I don’t know.

We should throw a birthday party for her today.

Yeah, she's probably having a hard time today..

I hope you're having a good day, sweetheart.

I'm just catching up on some things around the house.

I have some good news.

Turns out your favorite dog never actually ran away.

I found him this morning under the porch, curled up, still and cold.

He was probably just waiting for you to come home. Isn’t that funny?

He must have been there for a long time, and I had no idea.

I watched the clouds part this morning and a couple of tears fell out of them,

so I'm happy they are feeling something, because I can't say I have been.

Tonight, your bowl of ice cream is left out in case you want to join me for dessert tonight.

If you get home late, just make sure to wake me and tell me you’re back.

Feels good to have a second to yourself, right?

I’m Sasha, by the way.

Maria.

Which one’s yours?

Oh... it's just me, today.

Having a break, right? We all need a break.

Can’t live with 'em, can’t live without 'em, right?

My daughter is...

turning eleven today. - Oh my gosh!

Wow. They grow up so fast.

Next thing you know,

you’re going to be saying goodbye to her as she goes off to college.

Walking her down the aisle on her wedding day.

- Mommy, mommy, there’s a monster. - There’s a monster?

Well you better run away from it! Was it scary?

Oh, no! I'll protect you, don’t worry.

Well, we gotta go. But it was nice meeting you.

And tell your daughter happy birthday.

OK, ready? Let’s go!

Nice to meet you. - Yeah! Let’s go, let’s go!

Do you want to hear a joke? - Sure.

So what does a cake say when he got into a fight?

What? - ‘You want a piece of me?’

That's the best joke cause we’re having cake! - Mmm-hmm.

How is the cake?

- I haven’t tried it. - Mine’s all right.

I'm so proud of you, Jessica.

The more you grow up,

the more I hope you do marvelous things.

I have so much faith in you, my sweet angel.

You will move mountains.

Right now, and every day,

I want you to be brave.

Things right now are scary

and they will continue to be scary.

But I'm watching over you.

I may not be around, but I love you

more than you could ever know.

Remember that film we used to watch together?

Second star to the right

and straight on until morning.

I will look for you there.

Today, all I ask of you, Jessica,

is to have a special birthday.

Because even if we never see each other again,

you live inside my heart forever.

I love you,

my Jessica.

Mommy's got you... shhh.

Mommy has you.

I’ll never let you go.

My beautiful baby.

Very nice, I like this. - I love all the food.

I think we did a great job. - Mmm-hmm.

I hope Jessica turns up soon.

Yeah, where is she, actually?

We haven’t seen her all morning. - Mmm-hmm, yeah.

Maybe she’s busy.

Yeah. - Yeah.

But she hasn't been going out.

Yeah. - Well, we should do a cheers for her.

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Cheers to Jessica's.

I can't wait to go there again. It was super fun.

Hey, you guys -- do you smell that?

Yeah, I smell that. - It smells gross.

Do you think something went bad?

Uh... maybe. - Maybe.

It doesn’t smell like the food. - No.

- Run! - Run!

I don't know, Doctor. It's getting worse.

It's getting much worse.

Something or someone is inside my head and controlling my thoughts.

I know this isn't me.

If I don't even see my face when I look in the mirror anymore,

how can I expect anyone else to?

How can I even be sure it's me looking back?

I can't even remember what day it is.

I'll do it.

I'll cut my face off if it meant I could wear anyone else's for only one day.

If it meant I didn't have to feel this anymore.

If it meant I could spend the time with the people who love me without hurting them

or feeling hurt.

If it meant I can protect one thing

I love in this world without it slipping away forever.