The first 200 lines.
Abs, you ready?
Abby...
Abs.
Come on. I know you're in there. Let's go.
Abby, come on.
Okay, okay.
You're being a jerk.
You know I have somewhere I have to be. Come on.
Let's go. Five minutes. I need you dressed.
Five minutes.
"And though the dreamer remains asleep,
"he walks through memory as if experiencing it
"for the first time anew,
"no longer a passenger but an active participant."
This stuff for real?
Some people think so.
Guess it depends on what you believe.
Summer of '82,
I traded a mint condition Cal Ripken Jr. rookie
for a used copy of Missile Command.
That card's probably worth 800 bucks now.
I wish I could participate in that memory
and actively kick my own ass.
Can I keep it?
No.
I would like the walnut fudge,
but I want the fudge on the side
because I don't want it to melt the ice cream.
And can I get some whipped cream on top
and three cherries?
Coming right up.
Hey. You want your usual, right?
Uh, yeah.
So, when are you gonna bring your sister by?
We got this new flavor, Rainbow Explosion.
I bet she'll go crazy for it.
Mike?
Hey!
Hey!
Hey!
Number 27?
Number 27?
Number 27?
Follow me.
Mmm.
What is your deal, Mike?
What are you, some kind of...
head case?
You beat up a man in broad daylight.
In front of his child.
Daddy!
That was a mistake. Um...
It was a misunderstanding. I... I thought...
Just look at your employment record.
Tire Zone, sales associate, two months, terminated.
Insubordination.
Media World, custodial staff, one week.
It's like you're not even trying here,
yet you sit before me asking for help.
I am just trying to figure out who you are,
Mr. Michael Sch...
Hmm.
Coffee? Sorry?
Uh, would you, would you like some...
some coffee? I made some coffee.
No.
I'm... I'm gonna be brutally honest with you here, Mike.
Given your track record, your options...
are gonna be extremely limited.
I'll take anything, okay? Any... Any job you got. No. No.
Look, I... I get that part.
Um, it's just...
You know, it's not that easy.
Yeah. Thank you.
I have a job for you.
Come on, sit down.
Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit.
Okay, uh, well, what is it?
It's a security gig.
Full disclosure, it's not great.
Right? High turnover.
That's what we call it in the business,
but you get to be your own boss. Sort of.
And you only have to worry about one thing.
Keeping people out.
And... And, you know, and keep the place tidy.
That's two things.
You want the job or not?
How's the pay? Not great.
But the hours are worse.
I can't do nights.
Excuse me?
I can't do nights.
That's such a shame.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Wait, uh...
In case you have a change of heart.
Hey, Max.
Thanks for babysitting.
There's Stouffer's.
Should still be warm, if you're hungry.
I have to tell you, there is something magical
about these rings, and you can have it within...
I wish someone would buy me a ring.
Did Abby eat?
What do you think?
Same time tomorrow?
Yep.
What do we got?
Okay. Well, that good-looking guy I recognize.
Who are all these other punks?
My friends. It's not done yet.
Well, look, you can finish up after we eat, all right?
Come get some food.
I'm not hungry.
Abby, please, come eat.
Come on. Here. Please come. No!
Come and...
Abs, with the day that I'm having,
can you just eat some food?
You're sitting on my friend.
You know what? I don't care.
Do whatever you want.
But you should know what happens to little kids
who don't eat their dinners.
Their bodies stay the same size forever.
And they never get to ride
the adult rides at the amusement park.
My friend says you're an idiot.
Mmm.
At least I'm real.
How about some burger with that ketchup, hon?
Everything's better swimming in ketchup.
Right, Mike? Whoop.
I'm gonna go grab a towel.
Go watch your brother, okay? Okay.
Garrett.
Garrett?
Garrett! Garrett!
Just look at my nephew.
It's not even 10:00 and he... he can barely keep his eyes open.
And this degenerate is who they entrust
with the well-being of a mentally ill child.
Jane, like I've said before, Abby is not mentally ill.
Oh, right.
Perfectly normal to sit around drawing pictures all day
and talking to magical creatures who do not exist.
Listen, I think we all just need to calm...
Don't tell me to calm down.
You're the doctor, and you're making me feel like
I'm the crazy one?
And after... after what he did to that poor man...
I just...
I have really tried to play nice. I have.
But I have to think about Abby now.
Enough is enough. Doug?
Doug. Oh.
In your heart,
you know that this is the right thing to do.
I hope that you will sign.
- And if I don't? - Well, then,
my lawyer and I will have to take you to court,
where any judge with an ounce of sanity
will see to it that you never see your sister again.
That what you want?
She... She doesn't even care about Abby.
All she wants is the monthly check from the state.
But, I mean, she... she has some good points, though.
I'm hardly fit to be raising a kid.
I know a little girl who would strongly disagree.
Come on.
She talks to air more than she talks to me.
I could drop dead tomorrow,
and she'd be too busy drawing to even notice.
You know, pictures hold tremendous power for children.
Before we learn to speak,
images are the most important tool we have
for understanding the world around us.
What's real, what matters to us most.
These are things children learn to communicate
almost exclusively through pictures.
Yeah, her pictures mean something.
And who is at the center of nine out of ten of them?
Me. Mmm-hmm.
Like it or not, you're her world.
But what if it's not up to me?
My aunt, she's an idiot, but she's right.
No judge in their right mind is ever gonna side with me.
Did you find a job yet?
Okay.
That would be a good place to start.
Hello. Uh, hi.
Mr. Raglan, this is Mike.
Mr. "I can't work nights." Right.
Uh, yeah, I was just calling to see if that job
that you offered was, uh, was still available.
Oh, it absolutely is.
Why? Have you had a change of heart?
How soon could I start?
No comments yet. Be the first to leave one.