Lady in the Water Page #4

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I'll tell them what you have to say.

Tell her I know that she is not allowed

to tell about her world...

...but maybe I could ask some questions,

and she can just say if it's right or wrong.

Know what I did when I was little and me

and my girlfriends would get in trouble?

My mom always wanted to know

what happened...

...but I was like,

"I can't tell on my friends."

So she came up with this way

of me telling her things without talking.

She would say, "Touch your ear

or something if the answer is yes."

So I would, and then

she would know certain things...

...but I didn't really feel

like I told on my friends.

It was cheating, I know,

but made me feel better.

We're ready.

So in this bedtime story...

...the narf has come

to a preordained place.

She must leave from the same spot.

This eagle, the Great Eatlon,

coming to take her back...

...is really very important.

And here's the good stuff.

There are humans

with powers that can help her.

And these people

have been unconsciously drawn...

...to live near the vessel.

Now, these humans

don't know who they are...

...and they always

appear in the story earlier.

Are there humans with powers

that can help you...

...but don't know who they are?

That's a yes!

They've got weird names:

A Symbolist, a Guardian and a Guild.

Ask her if that's right.

You want something.

One of them. Vick.

Mr. Heep. Mr. Heep is one of them.

Which one? Guild, Guardian?

She thinks Mr. Heep is the Guardian.

I was told that there's a Symbolist...

...an interpreter who can read signs

in clouds and other forms.

He will interpret messages...

...from the universe

if problems should arise.

Do you know who the Symbolist

or Interpreter is?

That's a no.

And I was told that there is a Guild...

...whose many hands

will combine to help.

Does she know who they are?

There is a Guild or something.

They're supposed to help

with their hands.

That's another no.

All right, there's one other.

I don't know if it's worth mentioning.

It's not in the stories all the time.

It's a human, usually a female...

...so full of hope...

...that they can awaken

the life force in all things.

Now, that one is called the Healer.

And you can tell

that they're in the story...

...because butterflies

are drawn to the Healer.

- Butterflies.

- The last one's a Healer.

You don't know

any of these people, do you?

Reading? A book?

Learning.

She thinks it has to be learned.

Is the eagle

going to come back for her?

Only one last time.

Mr. Heep,

you know the people in this building.

You have to find them.

What is it?

You know these walls are paper-thin?

I can hear all that bloody noise

downstairs like they were in my kitchen.

Can you do anything about that?

Of course not.

- What is it you want, anyway?

- Well, I had a question.

You're an expert on p... P... Plots, right?

You know who's gonna do what in a book

or a movie even at the beginning, yes?

There is no originality left in the world,

Mr. Heep.

That is a sad fact I've come to live with.

Well, if there was a mystery...

...and a guy had to figure out

who some people were...

...like he had to find a symbol guy...

...someone who can

figure out messages...

...and a guild of people who are going

to be important at the end as a group.

How would you figure that out?

The symbol person should be simple.

Look for any character

who is doing something mundane...

...but required analysis.

Someone who was skilled at puzzles.

Joey, you can't have cereal for lunch.

This picture on the cereal box

is supposed to make you feel happy.

I feel sad, like that time

you forgot to pick me up at school.

Joey, Mr. Heep appears disquieted.

Can you give us a moment alone?

Sure, Dad.

As for the guild...

...Iook for any group of characters

that are always seen together...

...and have seemingly irrelevant

and tedious dialogue...

...that seems to regurgitate forever.

And you just sit around

and talk about nothing?

Oh, we talk about serious issues.

On occasion.

We talked about Martin Luther King

at the Tequila Hut Tuesday night.

You talked about that?

This is the writer's way

of establishing characters...

...who will be important

further in the story.

Is there anything further

I can assist you with during my naptime?

No. No, Mr. Farber. Thank you.

Story, these young men are the Guild.

And Mr. Dury... Mr. Dury?

Mr. Dury is the Interpreter.

And there's one other person.

Mrs. Bell, could you come in here, please?

This is Mrs. Bell, the Healer.

Story wants to go home and she can't.

Tomorrow night is her last chance.

Mr. Dury, please step forward.

- Mr. Heep, you're not stuttering.

- Yes, I know. I know. It's only around her.

Now, the Interpreter will tell us what

to do if something should go wrong.

He will use an instrument

specific to him...

...to interpret.

- Try it, Mr. Dury.

- I don't...

Let's just see what happens.

I think that there's

a message in there for us.

Well, nine letters across

is the word "essential."

And it touches...

...27 down, which is "scheme."

- Essential scheme.

- Yes.

Now, those were the first two words

that I deciphered in this puzzle...

...and I thought that was...

Well, I thought that was weird.

There's a word that seems

out of place to me.

- Yes.

- It's a six-letter word for "get-together."

- "Soiree."

- Soiree.

Soiree could mean "party." How

could a...? How does a party help us?

Well, I guess I thought that, you know...

...a party is interesting because

this thing out there is an animal...

...and it probably has

a very keen sense of smell.

- Why is everyone staring at me?

- Go on. Go on, Mr. Dury. Go on.

Humans have a pungent smell

to animals...

...so I thought that maybe everyone

gathered together would confuse him...

...and he wouldn't be able to distinguish

her from amongst all of us.

Does that sound right?

He's hearing the voice of God

through a crossword puzzle.

- We're just playing here, right?

- No. Wait, wait.

See, I don't think that the Great Eatlon...

...will land in the presence

of beings not from its world.

She didn't want me to watch

when the eagle came the first time.

That's before she knew

that I was the Guardian.

Would I be able to watch now?

But there will be...

There'll be hundreds of people at a party.

It won't work. It won't work. See if

there's anything else in there, Mr. Dury.

This word did give me great difficulty,

and then it came to me.

- "Sonorous."

- Sonorous, sonorous.

It could mean music, a band.

Maybe we gather everyone inside

at the last minute to hear a band...

...and we who are of the world

stay with her...

...to help her with that thing and...

Until she's taken.

He's a prophet.

We're all just seeing what we want to.

I just made all that up.

No, I think that it worked.

I think that it worked.

That is why they're the Guild.

I think they're supposed

to use their hands to throw us a party.

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