Children of the Pines

Riley!

Riley!

Where are you?

This what it's come to, Kathy?

Keeping our daughter from her hard-working father?

Mommy, tell Daddy to stop.

He will, baby. Just be quiet.

Why is Daddy being scary?

Daddy gets scary sometimes when I'm not quiet.

So it's important that we don't make a peep.

Do you know what a peep is?

A peep is when you talk.

It's when you talk really soft.

Can we talk at a peep?

I can't be the only one who feels this house shrinking as the days drag on.

You must be burnt up, Kathy.

Constantly in disposition for a light at the end of the tunnel.

Or is it... validity?

Or recognition?

What about me, Kathy?

Woe is John, asking to be thrown a bone every blue moon.

Who made up the rule that love had to be a luxury?

Did your mom teach you that, Riley?

Forgive me. Maybe I was being passive when I gave up my life

for you to eat my food, breathe my air, drain my pockets.

Drain me of my freedom, huh?

- Do you think you can deprive me of my life?

You both demand and drain and demand

and fucking drain me!

"Sadness will only ground you

in ways that happiness could only dream of doing."

That's what a relative told me on my grandma's funeral.

I didn't always see eye-to-eye with her,

but she loved me and I loved her.

That seemed to be enough.

After she died, it was like a bomb had gone off in our family.

Food tasted differently.

The places she used to take me started to rust.

I began noticing the crow's feet on my parents' face come in

as their hair turned icy gray.

The air became more dense.

Day by day, you pick yourself up

and settle into the wasteland that remains.

Day by day, you forget about last week,

last month, last decade.

The wrinkles have always been there,

the hair was always gray,

and the buildings always weathered down.

The air was always this dense.

You were always this happy.

People tend to keep their terror in the past.

And while today might not be as unpolished and gritty as it once was,

real terror will always find its way through the cracks.

Leon, put the matches down!

You are not the man you were yesterday.

You are a new man.

You are a new, strong individual.

Strong.

Powerful.

Guide those who come to you with love and acceptance.

Let them remind you of your love and acceptance.

Katherine Newman!

Lorelei Duncan.

Oh, my gosh. You are so cold, honey!

It's a little chilly out today, but I have been told I have cold hands.

I just didn't expect to get frostbite in June!

Has somebody taken your husband back?

Uh, yes. Uh, didn't catch his name. A nice gentleman.

But they went over to one of the other buildings.

Hmm. Okay. Well, great.

Well, would you follow me, Katherine?

Oh, um, my husband and I wanted to know what insurance you accept, you know, if any?

Oh, your insurance is no good here, Mrs. Newman.

After you.

Rob.

I-- I didn't know this was being recorded.

Oh, it's just for you. We have some people who like to look back on it...

later.

Is that okay?

Yeah, yeah, I suppose it's fine.

Thank you.

Now, how was the drive up?

Smooth sailing. Yeah.

What's her name?

Riley.

Well, she's adorable.

Oh, God. That one was from, like, 13 years ago.

Oh, the other ones I had to get off her social media.

Was this your husband John?

Yes.

Interesting choice.

It's the one he wanted to submit.

Excellent.

Katherine-- Uh, Kathy or Katherine?

Oh, Kathy's fine.

It's faster to say.

Kathy, are you nervous?

No.

Should I be?

No, just curious.

My husband, Leon-- you'll be meeting him at your ceremony,

if you choose to stay-- um, he and I have been running this for the last 35 years.

I love what we do here, but I have a feeling our time here is coming to a close.

Leon, I guess, well, he's waiting for some kind of omen

to tell us that it's time for us to leave this behind.

But, uh...

well... you start to get a little worn out.

To get a little sick of him too.

Um, he and I have built this up much-- much too much to just walk away.

You know, unless something really special comes along.

Until then, I'll work.

Is this your first time seeking guidance?

No. No, absolutely not.

Well, we are wonderfully versed in healing couples.

I'm here for my daughter.

And for John.

Well, bold of you and your husband to jump down the rabbit hole, hey?

It was John's decision to come here.

He's been trying his best to grow.

I'd like to think that Riley's noticed, but...

But John has stopped drinking.

And... we've started going out again.

He's looking to hire some extra help so he can cut back on his workload.

A lot of really great things.

Well, he must be thrilled.

She hasn't really been home in a long time.

She's been away at school.

Every break and holiday, you know, she spends it there with her friends.

Her new friends.

She's coming home soon.

One of the things that we had been advised to do is to

pass over the main lines of communication over to John.

So he's been the one primarily reaching out to her.

What?

I wanna hear what a conversation

between these two characters sounds like.

They must be doing a lot of unpacking.

I-- No.

There's not a lot to unpack?

No, I just-- I-- I don't--

-I-- I-- -You don't know what it sounds like.

-What? -You're clueless as to what these two would have to say

to each other, even in a simple, mundane conversation.

"Hello, Riley.

How was your day?

How was your day?"

"Hey, Dad."

"How was your day, Riley?"

Do you think...

she'll-- do you think she'll come back?

Come back to where?

To me.

Do you think your husband deserves to see

a reflection of the pain he's caused Riley?

That's really not a fair question--

Would you say that Riley holds more of your qualities or John's?

Look, Lorelei, I understand what you're trying to do, but can we just--

Your daughter holds just as much of you as she does of John.

She holds a million other beautiful, complex thoughts and feelings

that you may never understand.

Most people, at some point in their lives,

try to break the cycle of their parents.

If not them,

the child bears the burden.

People tend to keep their pain, their woes, in the past,

but they always manifest themselves again.

Just in different ways.

More subtle.

Quietly.

We had a woman, Marie--

she worked privately with Leon--

complete our program.

She and her siblings went through, oh,

much the same types of situations and issues as Riley and John.

We healed her, Kathy.

Now, that case was much more challenging,

but I know how important it is for you to get to the root of these issues.

We have the tools.

If at any time you feel unsure or uncomfortable,

that door is open.

We don't force this on anyone.

But that option is only open until we tell you

how we operate to fix these issues.

I promise you, Kathy...

you, John, and Riley?

It all starts with a leap of faith.

The air feels dense.

During summertime in the mountains,

you would get a week straight of pure, dry heat

followed by a week of back-to-back afternoon showers.

The only constant was the humidity,

lingering around as if it thought it was wanted.

The kids didn't care, though.

Not one bit.

We just kept on playing.

After all,

we were on a break with a reality check

attached to our next year's report card.

During the winter months, there was even more weightlessness to reality.

We would be outside, just as we were in the summer months,