The Water Man

Detective Knox approached the cemetery

like he had done so many times before.

But this crime scene would soon prove to be

very different.

Because the dead body...

was none other than Detective Knox himself.

I'm a ghost.

Gunner!

Hey.

Where, oh, where could my dear, sweet son be?

Could've sworn he was in here.

Really need to talk to him.

Did you think you got me?

- No, I didn't think... - It feels like you think

- you got me. - No, I didn't!

What were you thinking?

I feel like you're making weird noises.

Are you laughing?

This is very serious.

- Hi. - Perfect timing.

Hi, Gunner.

Okay, share with your dad. Do you want to share?

You should be taking it easy, babe.

No, I feel good.

I feel better today.

Mm. You look better.

Thank you.

I have never seen anything like it.

A Chinese restaurant that only plays top 100 country hits.

My favorite.

- Don't even joke about that. - What?

Country music is a line in the sand of this marriage.

- Aah! - I'm serious.

This town is weird.

Think that's why we got such a good deal on a house.

That, and this whole antler lighting situation.

Stop it.

It's just... different here than what we're used to.

Yeah, real different.

Right?

Gunner.

No books at the table, though.

- Gunner. - Yeah?

No books at the table, bud.

Gunner's been getting to know the town.

He's been all over on his scooter, he made a friend.

Mrs. Bakemeyer, at the bookstore.

Did you go by there again today?

Yeah.

And I went to a funeral.

A funeral?

Yeah.

Whose funeral?

You shouldn't be going to a stranger's funeral, Gunner.

That's private.

Why would you do that?

It was just for research.

You made him feel weird.

It is weird.

He knows you're sick, and he's researching funerals?

It's for his graphic novel.

Who did this to me?

Gunner?

Can I come in?

Okay.

I know this move's been hard for you.

It's been hard for your dad, too.

He's just always mad at me.

I really preferred it when he was gone.

Don't say that, Gunner.

I'm sorry, Mom, but it's true.

He loves you so much.

And since he's been back from Japan,

he's just stressed about me.

Where do we go when we die?

Oh, that's easy.

The Cheesecake Factory.

Mom.

Okay, real talk.

No one knows for sure.

But I believe there's a special place our souls go.

A place we won't understand until we're already there.

You know?

Like heaven?

Yeah.

Does everyone go there?

I don't know.

The one thing we do know is that we have this time now

and we have to spend it loving each other every day.

Come here.

Hey, Gunner.

Get up, let's go toss the ball around before I head to work.

What time is it?

8:30.

Dad, it's summer vacation.

Sun's been up for hours.

Come on, come on. Show your old man what you got.

Oh, no.

Dad! You ruined them!

Mom? Mom!

I'm just nauseous.

Dad!

Mom's sick again.

You stay out here.

- No, don't. - It's okay. It's me.

Hi, Mrs. Bakemeyer.

Hi, Gunner.

I read to Chapter 12 last night.

Holmes and Watson had just entered the abandoned building.

Where'd you leave off?

You finished these already?

Can I borrow some different books?

I promise I'll keep them in good condition.

What about your research for Detective Knox?

I'm doing new research.

I'm gonna need every book you have on leukemia.

Alrighty.

- Excuse me. - Mm?

Hi. Um... the medicine you're giving my mom,

I don't really think that it's the right one.

Well, it's medicine to take all her pain away.

I know, but I think that you should give her

methotrexate or...

doxorubicin hydrochloride...

I'm sorry.

It's really not my call.

You better not have come empty-handed.

You know the deal.

I always thought the Water Man was just a bunch of B.S.,

something grown-ups told kids

to keep them from sneaking off into the woods.

But then I met him face-to-face.

And I have the scar to prove it.

Some of what you've heard is true,

like how he lives out in the woods

by a lake called Wild Horse,

that the forest has turned weird because of his powers,

that he's gone crazy.

But no one knows where to find him.

No one except me.

If you want to hear the rest of the story, you got to pay.

Damn it.

Something's burning.

Thank you.

...September, and it's fire season,

the earliest in nearly four decades.

The overall 923 wildfires were reported

across the state of Oregon,

burning approximately 60,000 acres

as climate change brings more extreme weather

across the globe.

Here in the Pacific Northwest,

the 2018 National Climate Assessment...

The Water Man.

"Bussey & Sons."

You're trying to sell me something, the answer's no.

It's about the Water Man.

Is this yours?

I got rid of that years ago.

There's a note in here.

It's about the Water Man.

Is this a prank?

Where are your friends, huh? Where are they hiding?

Where're your buddies with the cameras?

Um, Mister... Bussey, right?

Yeah, I warned you kids.

You pulled another prank, I'd call the police.

It's not a prank.

I just want to know if the Water Man is real.

- Of course he's real. - I just moved here

and I wanted to hear from someone

who actually knew what they were talking about.

Really thought that you could help me.

- What's your name? - Gunner Boone.

Gunner Boone, you swear this isn't a prank?

I cross my heart.

In here.

You cold?

- No. - You sure?

It's always freezing in this darn house.

Yeah, take a seat.

So, why do you care so much about the Water Man?

The note I saw in this book says that he's immortal.

I need to know more about it.

Mm. Yeah, well, death is a strange thing, Gunner Boone.

One instant you're alive, rejuvenating cells,

forming memories, interacting with the world around you.

And then in the blink of an eye, your heart stops beating.

Your organs, your blood... it all ceases, begins to decay.

Cookie?

Now, in my line of work,

you spend a lot of time with the dead.

I know everyone who's died in the whole county.

Yep, death is pretty much a cut-and-dried business, Gunner.

It's permanent.

Except when it comes...

to the Water Man.

His real name was Edward Schaal.

He was a young man when he and his wife moved to Wild Horse.

Wild Horse started out as a mining town.