memes.

it’s tough out there, and as long as there are people, there’s gonna be somebody trying to take what you got and trying to drag you down.

baby, you had to grow up a little today.

i think something’s busted. i hurt something awful.

you didn’t comb your hair.

in this house we do not give away what loved ones give to us.

that temper can get you in trouble.

how you carry yourself, what you stand for – that’s how you gain respect.

then get out of those wet things. don’t want you catching pneumonia.

hey, yourself.

you’ll be warm once you’re under the covers.

go bring me your coat. i’ve got time to take up the sleeves now.

i’m all right. just got my leg broke, that’s all.

say it, child.

a couple of dollars, but that’s all.

but right now you could help me most by going back to bed. it’s a school day tomorrow, remember?

i’ll count on that. i’ll count real hard on that.

just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

baby, we have no choice of what color we’re born or who our parents are or whether we’re rich or poor. what we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we’re here.

and it came to me that this was one of those known and unknown things, something never to be spoken, not even to each other.

it’s not like you, honey, to be bitter.

but, little one, ain’t nobody’s respect worth more than your own. you understand that?

probably got held up someplace. could’ve stopped to get out of this storm.

but one day we’ll have to pay for it. believe me, one day we’ll pay.

heard bones cracking. heard somebody cursing and crying.

i think you’ve done enough growing up for one day.

what do you mean running around out there this time of night?

no. too much bad feeling there.

how come you got that thing on your head?

you found me, took care of me. you helped me understand.

it’s night? i’ve been out all day?

kindness doesn’t cost you anything.

you lied to me. and the worst part about it is that you did it right to my face.

complain all you want. we have to break this fever.

this is a A-B conversation, so “C” your way out.

call me a punk again.

why are you eating like this is your last meal?

just promise me you’ll protect yourself.

i’m sorry for what i did to you, and i’m here to talk, but i got boundaries.

why you got to be so mean to me?

when we met, you had nowhere to go. i took you in and gave you shelter and food, ‘cause i couldn’t stand thinking of you being on the streets.

well, look at you, being all useful and shit.

you’re rebellious and usually boring, but i still have use for you.

i’m just a fuckup.

don’t bullshit me. that offends me.

i don’t really know what that means, but i’ll grovel all night if i have to.

i’m not mad about the situation. i’m sad.

look, please, don’t kick me out.

christmas morning was always special in my house. traditions are important to me.

greatness comes from suffering. from failing over and over until you bleed and cry. and then, finally, something inside just cracks open.

that’s my golden rule. trust gives people power over you.

oh, you got a fever of 102.

if you’re gonna go disappearing like that again, you got to let me know first.

once you’re in my house, you’re my responsibility.

you think i’m not good enough to shine out in the real world.

i’m so disappointed in you.

good time? more like it’s about time.

i’m the asshole, and i’m sorry.

life isn’t always good, but right now, in this moment, it’s good.

i was real messed up about it.

will you love me forever?

last time we spoke, you were pretty hard on me, and told me the truth even when i didn’t want to hear it.

this color looks like a shit-stained diaper left out in the rain.

i deserve more. i’m worthy of better.

life comes for all of us. and it comes hardest for the ones who think they’re above it all. 

come, make yourself a nice, big plate. there’s plenty of food.

i don’t owe you anything. i told you: you are not the only one with dreams.

believe me, honey, if you don’t learn to take it easy, you’re going to get sick.

you’re mean and i hate you.

say, i’m gonna have real fun, huh?

trouble with you is you’re too emotional.

hush now, dear, we’ll get some cool water, and then you’ll be home in a little while.

here’s two bucks.

oh, my brat, my wonderful resilient brat.

didn’t santa claus bring you anything at all?

well, there you are.

oh, you poor darling. you poor proud lying darling.

don’t you worry, honey, it’s going to be all right.

i’ve been wrong.

did you feel sick this morning?

why, i’m hysterical.

you see, nothing that is beautiful ever dies as long as we remember it.

but you aren’t mice, my darlings. mice are hated, hunted pests. you are normal, lovable children.

i hate you. i hate you all.

high fever, restlessness, sore throat, headache, croupy cough, delirium.

do you hurt anywhere?

bless you, i’m so glad to have you.

i’ve tried everything.

run, little mouse!

did you have your breakfast this morning, dear?

i’m laughing because i’m happy.

most people have to take the name somebody gave them whether they like it or not, but you can choose your very own.

outside i’m smiling. inside i’m crying.

do i ever cross your mind anytime. i miss you.

you’re keeping a smile on my face.

could you fall in love with me? could you love me the rest of my life?

still have your picture in a frame. hear your footsteps down the hall.

lead me back to the road that leads back to your arms.

you say you’ve seen too many things that turn out to be too good to be true.

are you the sunshine that’s begging me, “come in from the rain”, or have you come into my life to turn around and take your love away?

forever was the promise in our hearts.

i’ve got work to do ‘til every single star up in the sky knows that i belong to you.

could it be that i can’t stand to be alone?

don’t wanna think about tomorrow. whatever comes what may. it’s you and i, here and now.

baby, but now it’s over and you’re gone. i’ve got to say goodbye.

do i ever cross your mind anytime. do you ever wake up reaching out for me.

could you be the one for me? could we dance the night away?

someone found you and brought you to the hospital.

it’s funny. sleep feels like the last thing that i need.

hopeless! like trying to find a peanut floating through outer space.

every day, we woke on a knife edge and we ran along it.

don’t be scared. i’m going to fix everything. you don’t have to be scared of me.

yes. on my soul.

i had to add everything together. there was a cost to your happiness.

everything passes. even love. even grief.

how did you get this letter? explain it to me.

don’t cry. you’re here.

it was fucked up, it was unbelievable. it couldn’t be.

you’re my friend. why can’t you understand? i’m giving you this information because you are my friend.

you’ll never be ready. you never had it in you.

the world had grown too large for me, it was asking too much, too much.

see this? this is shrapnel.

don’t be upset. it’s no use being upset. what’s done is done.

everyone is searching. everyone is looking into every passing face and wondering if the next person along the road will be the beloved, the dreamed of. maybe this life is the dream.

you think you’re suffering now. you think you understand, but what do you know about pain? 

the undying are always the most wretched.

children become masters. the bread outgrows the basket.

please don’t do this. i take everything back.

what’s happening to you?

i looked at the world and i thought, “what now? what happens now?” i wasn’t angry. i just wanted to stand there and ask my question. i wanted someone to acknowledge me.

i thought you knew me! you said my name.

come and find us before we disappear.

all this suffering is for something.

but are peaceful days around the corner?

let me sleep a little longer.

only bodies have pain.

keep your peace, that’s what i wanted to tell you. just keep your peace for now.

only a dictator or an idiot would make that claim.

if you remember, will you come and find me?

wars always end. peace always ends. people get tired.

here is the answer: do you want to see?

what’s down that way?

you get right back in bed.

i’ll put cold water on your knee, and a bandage.

listen, honey. you keep forgetting that there are two sides to this.

i’ve asked you not to tell lies. it’s wrong. it’s a bad thing to do.

you got room for a small piece of cake?

there, there, sonny. you’re all right.

go buy yourself an ice cream cone. and choke on it while you’re eating it.

i know because i once shook like that myself.

we can sit and talk. or do you want to go to bed?

look straight ahead. look at the flowers. hold everything still inside of you.

we? you mean you, don’t you?

it’s part hate, part love. it’s remembered agony, and remembered delight.

i’ll hurt you just like you’ve hurt me.

it’s the most comfortable bed i’ve ever slept in. 

go outside and get some air.

you mean you’d go anyway? without me?

you beat me until i couldn’t stand up, couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. what do you call that?

imagine me feeling sorry for a billionaire.

ha, ha, ha. funniest thing i ever heard.

if you’re not drunk, what’s the matter with you?

i did this myself, no one told me to.

between then and now, well, i have not always loved my neighbor as myself.

it’s easier to be hungry when you’re young.

what did you mean last night, when you asked me if i’d noticed anything wrong?

you’re just making up excuses.

it’s a funny thing but when you’re that young, people think you haven’t any feelings. 

i don’t believe it. even now i don’t believe it.

i think i twisted my ankle.

you warm enough?

like i told you, just some personal stuff.

you’re going to be fine, dear.

well, the thing now is to keep covered up and stay warm. keep drinking hot liquids.

at least let me make you some food.

it’s not a good thing, it’s not a bad thing. it’s just a thing.

want to hear about my dreams?

you make it sound like we’re on a mission.

it’s dislocated, that’s certain.

can’t see shit in the snow.

you’re awfully hard on yourself.

i’ve been doing this thing called growing, in case you haven’t noticed.

some sandwiches, some cookies, some coffee.

i’ll be all right. you just keep me awake.

here, eat up.

you might be a little disoriented.

i really need to be alone right now. i’ll probably be here most of the day.

why are you all of a sudden mr. calm?

everybody hates driving in the snow.

i wish somebody would say that about me.

first thing is to relax. i’m not going to die.

when can i panic?

we can just head home if you want.

i’d like to say i’d be understanding, but i can’t.

you think i’m fucked up?

tell me where it hurts.

like a family. a fucked family.

i don’t want you to be my mom anymore.

you have to be quick or we’ll get in trouble.

did you know people get rich off of sadness? i want to meet the millionaire of american sadness.

listen. no, look at me right here, i’m serious. listen.

we talked about you, about your nightmares.

days i feel like a human being, while other days i feel more like a sound.

don’t look down, don’t look down.

you have to get bigger and stronger, okay?

the thing is, i don’t want my sadness to be othered from me just as i don’t want my happiness to be othered. they’re both mine.

how come each time my hands hurt me, they become more mine?

i’m not scared of dying anymore.

it’s kind of like being brave, i think?

a kind of mercy. to be clean again. to be good again.

what about our skeletons, how do we get away from them?

through this careful bruising, you heal.

keep going. fuck me up, fuck me up.

do you remember the happiest day of your life? what about the saddest?

what if my sadness is actually my most brutal teacher?

i have to throw up.

you don’t need to be scared. you’re smarter than me.

they say if you want something bad enough you’ll end up making a god out of it.

how can anyone be a feeling?

you were drowning, it seemed, in air.

do you ever wonder if sadness and happiness can be combined, to make a deep purple feeling, not good, not bad, but remarkable simply because you didn’t have to live on one side or the other?

have you ever made a scene, and then put yourself inside it? have you ever watched yourself from behind, going further and deeper into that landscape, away from you?

everything good is somewhere else, baby. i’m telling you. everything.

help me stay young, get this snow off of my life, get it all off my life.

they will want you to succeed, but never more than them. they will write their names on your leash and call you necessary, call you urgent.

i guess that was supposed to make me feel better?

don’t eat too fast or it will make you sick.

you should take some time to heal. something in you, maybe your head, doesn’t really want to be discovered yet.

cash became king.

look, it’s like a contract, unwritten, but understood.

no, you’ve got some odd ideas about what it means to talk out problems.

vamos mijo. you need to rest.

we are going to have to put some meat on your bones.

no, we’re going to come up with something better. but we know we’re bullshitting.

shhh. don’t be silly. you have been no burden to me.

it’s not going anywhere. you eat too fast when you’re not used to it, you’ll get sick.

you know i love you like myself.

we mothers are made of pretty tough stuff.

calma, mijo, calma.

i want you to quit worrying. you’re home now.

look, i’m going to give you, and me, the benefit of the doubt.

i’ve been dizzy for a long time. i don’t know how else to describe it to you. 

i think i thought i was home. that i was waking up from something like a dream and you were mom.

come to think of it, take this multi-vitamin too.

and your face is dirty. i got a great mind to wash your face for you.

you might run that comb through your hair so you will look presentable.

you could of asked me.

i’m very sorry, i’m sorry.

i was going to make cocoa out of this canned milk i got here.

then, you go to that sink and wash your face.

eat some more, son.

then it will get washed this evening.

if i turn you loose, will you run?

that will be fine.

let the water run until it gets warm. here’s a clean towel.

then we’ll eat.

you gonna take me to jail?

but i wish you would behave yourself, son, from here on in.

do you need somebody to go to the store, maybe to get some milk or something?

there’s nobody home at my house.

behave yourself, boy!

what is your name?

now, here, take this ten dollars and buy yourself some ___.

you a lie!

i were young once and i wanted things i could not get.

now ain’t you ashamed of yourself?

you ought to be my son. i would teach you right from wrong. least i can do right now is to wash your face.

what did you want to do it for?

i have done things, too, which i would not tell you, son – neither tell god, if he didn’t already know.

was i bothering you when i turned that corner?

but you put yourself in contact with me. if you think that that contact is not going to last awhile, you got another thought coming.

i got to get my rest now.

i think it needs a band-aid.

you don’t give a damn about me.

is that what a dumb-ass looks like when it grows up?

because i love you.

did that cranky old woman really call the cops?

now go wash up for breakfast. you’re still in pajamas.

a thousand days are melted into one conversation, one glance, one hurt, and one hurt can be shattered and sprinkled over a thousand days.

i promise. i will hate you.

i think i’ll take some aspirin and lay down.

my god, child, what happened to you?

other than that, i got nothing to say to you.

and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay in that tub.

where’s your revolution now?

it kinda gives you a funny feeling when you think about it that way, though.

aw, hush your fussing.

but i’ll never be a republican.

son-of-a-bitch! son-of-a-fucking-bitch!

i never knew till then why they called it angel food. took one bite and thought i had died and gone to heaven.

honey, we still got time, don’t you want to sit and talk?

it’s just like a miracle, to think it stopped raining today of all days.

i’m just chickenshit around here, huh?

if i can’t walk out of this house without you tonight, there’ll be nothing left in me to love you. and i’m trying, i’m trying so hard to hold on to that.

what a way to talk.

can’t there be just one morning of peace and quiet in this house.

i need a band-aid, you got a band-aid?

it’s really nice of you to come by. you should do it more often.

don’t put words into my mouth. i’m perfectly capable of saying what i mean.

you can’t keep doing this to yourself.

everywhere we go, we rebuild.

i’m sorry you’re sad.

six words. some days one. some days none.

it’s just the ER.

you need to get better.

i miss you, too.

jesus christ. are you hurt?

we spent two days together in the hospital room.

you need to eat. you’re so thin, ___.

there is your home. there is your family.

you said. over the phone.

please take care of yourself. your health is important.

until you feel better. only until you feel better.

it’s none of your business.

guess what? i was crying, too.

this hospital is bullshit.

it’s a doctor’s office. no police, no guards.

please, you need to be more careful. you could have burned the whole house down.

this room makes me uncomfortable.

i don’t trust hospitals.

___, this behavior, it’s dangerous. i’m worried.

doctors don’t know anything about how i feel. i want to go home.

when one hurts, you all hurt.

i was thinking that i’d be a little lost without you here.

you were having a bad dream.

i never thought i’d need anyone again, but i need you. is that okay?

find something warm, though. you’re going to need it.

this is going to sting a little.

am i dead or do i just feel like it?

if it scares you, it scares you. that’s pretty simple.

i’m going to bed. you go to bed, too.

the problem is that guns are easy. any idiot can use one and any idiot can feel tough with one.

it’s five thirty in the morning.

killing isn’t hard. it only takes a second. it’s what comes after that’s hard.

sorry for running out like a stupid child and causing everybody to worry.

take another breath. let it all out.

you forgot to eat lunch again.

that’s it, we’re going to the hospital.

the people you expected to do the bad thing did the bad thing.

sorry i made you come out there and have to save me.

scary stuff.

you were in bad shape.

it’s a tough time, these holidays.

when you call me son, i almost believe it.

this is all so unreal.

that’s going to eat at me for the rest of the day.

you’re in a world of trouble and that’s what you need to be worried about.

to tell the truth, i’m scared.

my fingers hurt.

don’t worry about that now. let’s just get home.

i’ve got bad news.

it’s okay to love something bigger than yourself without fearing it. anything worth loving is bigger than we are anyway.

you’ll slow me down and i’ll be worrying about you.

people live, people die. people split up, people stay together and make each other miserable.

have at it, buckaroo.

put your butt in a chair.

i trust him about as much as i trust any white man with a gun.

makes as much sense as anything.

go grab yourself some lunch.

a little dizzy, queasy all of a sudden.

in other words, get it your damn self.

not bad? whatever happened to “great” or “good”?

i’m not good. you get that? i’m not good. everywhere i go, i see it.

woah, you watch your language now.

like you give a fuck.

come on, let’s get you to bed.

baby? what are you doing?

no one loves you more than me.

i’m just being real.

anything could’ve happened to you.

if something had happened to you...

can i get a hug?

i just wanna be normal.

serendipity shit.

“you should’ve ran it by me first”? that’s your apology?

i’m not apologizing. just explaining what happened.

welcome back to the land of the living.

it’ll be okay. i’ll protect you.

i’m headed to work. breakfast is on the table.

your heart’s beating quick.

baby, turn the music down.

don’t clown me, all right?

you’re supposed to be my homie!

i’m me again.

your ankle’s gonna swell up.

it’s okay, it’s okay.

fucking shit.

what? you thought you’d be back before i got home?

you got to create shit that people don’t just hear, they feel it.

how are you gonna put ketchup on that?

i bought gyros.

must be a panic attack. i get those.

cake’s for birthdays, not breakfast.

you wrote that for me?

come on, take a listen.

you felt the struggle in the craft and the life.

looking like chef cardio arrest.

what’d you do, pour the whole box of cereal in that bowl?

this is chef boyardee right here. this is perfection.

i got your back, all right?

you’re a kid, man. that ain’t on you.

i should’ve never let you talk me into all this stuff.

goddamn. what happened?

look at your arms – just skin and bone. 

you had a high fever the whole night. you were delirious.

don’t you want to have a bath?

after all, you did your best.

your fever’s gone down.

you belong to my family now.

you can’t have a bath when you’re sick.

come on, lie down.

don’t eat that stuff. it’s no good.

what an ugly, sadistic story to tell children.

feeling better?

if you’re not back in ten, i’m coming to get you.

you probably have a concussion.

i’m hurting. inside and out.

they would try to say the right things. try to fix things. fix you. but they won’t understand. what’s happened to you can’t be fixed.

you know people who love you don’t hurt you like that.

i know i almost died, but i didn’t. so, i’m fine.

broken nose. black eye. likely concussed.

not so bad. in fact, that was kind of fun.

and just like that, things go from worse to totally fucked.

this place is messing with my head.

but your spirit. it didn’t want to come back.

i’ll sleep in here. it’s fine. couch looks fine.

you can’t fuck with people like that.

i’ve seen a lot of death. lost family before.