âI know you think you got a handle on what this. Is gonna be. You have no idea.â
âHave I done something wrong?â
âThereâs something different about you. About the way you think.â
âI brought you a gift.â
âI used to readâŚÂ This story to my son at night. I thought you might enjoy it.â
âDear, dear, how queer everything is today. And yesterday, things went on just as usual. I wonder if Iâve been changed in the night.â
âWas I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if Iâm not the same, the next question isâŚÂ Who in the world am I?â
âMorning, cowboy.â
âI got a late start this morning. Didnât get much sleep last night.â
âWhy are we going to handcuff a dead man?â
âDonât want someone walking off with him. Thatâs not a man anymore. That's merchandise.â
âOh, youâre new. Not much of a rind on you. Iâll give you a discount.â
âDo you mind waiting on that drink a bit?â
âDonât mind me. Just trying to look chivalrous.â
âYou came back.â
âYou gonna tell me where you been?â
âYou know if I could stay right here with you, I would.â
âWhat if I donât want to stay here? Itâs just sometimes I feel like the world out there is calling meâŚÂ Whispering, âthereâs something more.ââ
âYouâve traveled all over these parts. Isnât there anywhere we could go?â
âWell, there is a place I heard about down southâŚÂ Where the mountains meet the sea. They say the water's so pure there, itâll wash the past clean off you and you can start again.â
âSomeday. You said someday. Not today or tomorrow or next week. Just someday. "Someday" sounds a lot like the thing people say. When they actually mean ânever." Letâs not go someday, [name]. Letâs go now.â
âBefore I met you, [name], I was a different person and I got some reckoning to do before I can deserve someone like you. But Iâm close. Iâm close to making things right. And someday soon, we will have the life weâve both been dreaming of.â
"The coward dies a thousand deaths. The valiant taste of death but once.â
âYou look upon the face of true evil, you ainât liable to forget.â
âSome hands werenât meant to pull a trigger. Perhaps itâs for the best.â
âYou have to leave again, donât you?â
âYou know if I could stay right here with you, I would.â
âPromise me youâll come back.â
âYou guys canât program more than one of these idiots to make a fire?â
âAll right, you wait till I lead them to the tree line, then you make a run for it.â
âKeep staring. Maybe itâll tell you your horoscope.â
âWhat, are you Gali-fucking-leo?â
âI suppose Iâm glad for you. At least you have a way of forgetting.â
âI donât forget. Itâs always there. Sometimes itâŚÂ Still feels unreal to me.â
âDo you ever wish you could forget?â
âThis painâŚÂ Itâs all I have left of him.â
âSee? This is why I hide behind sarcasm.â
âIs there something wrong with me?â
âThis place you live in⌠Itâs a terrible place for you.â
âAre you saying Iâve changed?â
âImagine there are two versions of yourself⌠One that feels these things, and asks these questions, and one thatâs safe. Which would you rather be?â
âIâm sorry. Iâm trying, but I still donât understand.â
âThere aren't two versions of me. Thereâs only one. And I think when I discover who I am, Iâll be free.â
âJesus, I canât believe I let you talk me into this shit.â