Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Page #3

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I don't know.

I'm walking out of here. I will

call you back in 15 minutes, all right?

Did they cry?

Only humans can cry tears,

did you know that?

Even the elephant

in the picture is crying.

It looks like it, but it was probably

manipulated in Photoshop.

Don't cry.

Hey, Bob, how are you?

I'm great, I'm great.

How's the family? Awesome.

We're awesome, we're doing great.

So listen. Meet me at the office

at 3:
00, okay?

-Who's that?

-My husband.

You must think this is very odd.

Oh, I think a lot of things are odd.

People tell me I'm very odd all the time.

I got tested once to see

if I had Asperger's disease.

Dad said it's for people who are smarter

than everybody else but can't run straight.

Tests weren't definitive.

Are you sure you didn't know him?

Thomas Schell?

He was in the building.

In 9/11.

I'm trying to find a like for this key

that was in the envelope...

...that once belonged to my father.

I'm sorry, I don't know anything

about the key or your father.

Can I borrow that?

You're welcome to it.

I thought you really liked it.

Lots of things will be different

around here.

Can I kiss you?

You're a sweet boy, but I don't think

that would be a good idea.

Can I take your picture

so I can remember you?

How was the comic convention?

Were you there the whole day?

Can you unlock the door, please?

Oskar, can you open the door, please?

Oskar?

Do you hear me, Oskar?

Let me in, please.

Oskar, please, let me in.

Why do you wanna come in?

To tell you that I love you.

Look, I was hoping you would be home.

I don't know if you

heard about what happened...

...but I wanted you to know

I'm okay.

Everything is fine. We're still waiting

to find out what we're supposed to do.

It's pretty chaotic. Firemen are

supposed to be coming. What-

Message three, September 11th, 9:58 a.m.

Having survived

what is an extraordinary event...

...the collapse of two towers.

As we said earlier in our report,

I will tell you that what fell....

Oskar?

Oskar!

Oskar?

Are you all right?

Yeah.

They let you out of school early.

Yeah.

Do you know what happened?

Yeah.

Your mother will be home soon.

You want to just wait here

until she comes?

I guess so.

Do you want me to wait here with you?

It's okay.

You're sure?

Positive.

You're sure?

Oskar. Oskar!

Oskar. Oskar!

Did your fa-- Did your father call?

Are there any messages

on the machine?

Thank you.

All circuits--

-Oh!

All circuits are busy now.

Will you please-

All circuits are busy now.

Will you please-

All circuits are busy now.

Will you pl--

Please, please.

Sorry, your call did not go through.

Will you please try your call again?

All circuits are busy now.

Will you please-

Okay. Okay.

Sorry, due to heavy calling,

we cannot complete your call at this time.

Mom, I don't know,

I've already told you everything I know.

Hospitals, the police,

and any number I can find.

I only missed one of the calls.

No, I don't want you to come over.

I don't want to make any of this any bigger

for Oskar than it already is.

Uh, I'll call you if I need you, okay?

Recording.

Hi, you've reached the Schell residence.

Today is Tuesday, September 11th.

Here's today's fact of the day:

It is so cold in Yakutia,

that breath instantly freezes...

...with a crackling sound they call

"the whispering of the stars".

Hi, you've reached the Schell resid--

Now no one

will ever have to listen to them like I did.

Just like nothing ever happened.

Every time I left our apartment,

I became a little lighter...

...because I was getting closer to Dad.

But I also got a little heavier,

because I was further from Mom.

Why are you looking at me like that?

-Like how?

-Like I did something wrong.

-Do you have your cell phone?

-Right here.

I love you.

Maybe she was waiting there until I left.

Or maybe she'd already walked away.

Maybe she was just talking too quietly

for me to hear.

Hazelle Black

lived in Hamilton Heights.

--gonna worry about

Come on, come on.

If you know the Lord is keepin' you

Why don't you sing and shout?

Hey!

Dear God, I just ask that

you would watch over little Oskar...

...and I pray, oh, God,

for a miracle for him.

And that you keep him safe and in

your loving arms as he goes on his way.

Amen.

Remember, every day is a miracle.

I don't believe in miracles.

Finding what this key fits...

...would be a miracle.

I started with

a simple problem: a key with no lock.

And I designed a system

I thought fit the problem.

I broke everything down

into the smallest parts...

...and tried to think of each person

as a number in a gigantic equation.

It could be for a safe deposit box

or a lockbox.

It's old. Can I try it to see

if it fits something?

But it wasn't working.

Because people aren't like numbers.

They're more like letters.

And those letters

want to become stories.

And Dad said that stories

need to be shared.

That's it, leg, leg, leg, leg!

I had anticipated a six-minute visit

with each person named Black...

...but they were never just six minutes.

Everyone took more time

than I had planned for...

...to try and comfort me

and make me feel better about my dad.

And to tell me their stories.

But I didn't want to feel better

and I didn't want friends.

Tae Kwon Do, museum,

comic book convention.

I just wanted the lock.

Point two five divided by 65--

--156 days divided by 52

equals three years.

I wasn't getting any closer to my dad.

I was losing him.

What are you, some kind of a**hole?

Dickass!

Shiitake! All of you

in this stupid fukozowa building!

It must be a very confusing day.

I'll call you right back.

Message four, Septem--

Oskar, what's wrong?

Do you promise not to bury me

when I die?

It's the middle of the night, Oskar.

Do you promise not to bury me

when I die?

You are not going to die.

You are going to live a long, long life.

You sure you love me?

Completely sure.

Then put me in one of those

mausoleum thingies above the ground.

Oh.

Okay, we need to talk.

About my mausoleum?

No.

About what's been going on.

Why do you find it so hard

to talk to me?

In case you haven't noticed,

half the time, you're asleep.

And the other half the time,

you forget the first half.

You're what they call in the law

"in abstentia". An absent parent.

-That was mean.

-Which part?

All of it.

Dad used to say,

"The truth will set you free."

Well, Dad's not here.

-It's just the two of us.

-More like one and a quarter of us...

-...to be mathematically accurate.

-Don't walk out of this room, Oskar!

-What if I die tomorrow?

-You're not going to die tomorrow.

Dad didn't think he was

gonna die tomorrow either.

-It's not gonna happen to you.

-How do you know what's going to happen?

You know nothing.

You buried an empty box!

That's not the point!

His memory is there!

It's exactly the point. Dad was just cells.

Now they're on rooftops, and the rivers...

Oskar!

...and the lungs of millions of people

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