Local Color Page #10

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she had yet to learn.

Send me lots of postcards

from every place you go.

I love getting mail.

[Lil] Dear Debbie, I am

having a wonderful time.

I adore traveling.

You wouldn't recognize

me, I'm so tan

and healthy looking, Lil.

Dear Debbie, the world

is an immense and

wonderful place.

Sometimes when things

aren't going smoothly,

it's hard to see the forest

for the et cetera, et cetera.

Keep your chin up

too, fondly, Lil.

Dearest Debbie, let me

hear from you sometime,

if only a word or two.

Write to American

Express in Rome.

I really do wish you

were here, love Lil.

Debbie my darling, I am

very happy here and have

taken a large apartment,

so there is room

for you when you come.

I'm expecting you

this summer the minute

school lets out.

Then I can tell you

the answers to all the

questions you never

asked me that night.

I love you and miss you, Lil.

[Alvin] Any mention of me?

[Debbie] No.

[Alvin] Why are you

saving this trash?

I didn't do this to him.

I didn't do anything.

Did you call anyone else?

No.

That damn gun.

Oh god, it is my fault.

The gun.

Do you think the gun did it?

He did it.

No one's to blame.

Had nothing to do with it.

[Fred] No, don't.

The police.

That's right.

I have to call the police.

What a nightmare.

He made this mess.

I hate you, you son of a b*tch.

Who's going to clean

this bloody mess up?

Who's going to straighten

it all out for you?

Him, ha.

I have to make the

funeral arrangements.

I have to get your

sh*t out of here.

And the landlord.

I've always had to clean

up after you, always.

This is the last time.

The last time!

Don't pretend you understand.

We were twins.

It's like two people

with the same shadow.

It's special.

I'm all alone.

Free.

What's the matter with you,

why don't you cover him up?

He's been dead a long time.

You have no right to say that.

What gives you the right?

He knew I was leaving.

He wanted to keep me

here chained to his side.

(sighs)

You better get your

things out of here.

There's no reason for

you to be involved in it.

Here.

Take it.

A souvenir from Nijinsky.

A memento.

Ungrateful.

You ungenerous creep.

I'm going to Los

Angeles or Alaska.

Something where the

elements happen.

Where things are cataclysmic.

I mean where it

happens afterwards.

I love mountains and oceans.

In 10 million years Los

Angeles and San Francisco

will be abreast of one another.

It's something to think about.

I wanted to jump out the

window like Nijinsky's

exit in Spector of the Rose.

A magnificent parabola

in the air that never

touches earth.

It would have been

spectacular but I couldn't

fit through the window.

It would have been too

much trouble to remove

the casement.

Don't hate me too much.

I wouldn't have done it if

it weren't the right thing.

I love you both, Andrew.

Both?

To whoever finds me.

[Voiceover] Lil and

Brian both left work

on the same day.

It was vague office gossip

about the possibilty

of a romance,

infidelities, flight.

They were both at the airline

terminals at the same time

but they were heading

in different directions

and never met.

Much later that night,

Andrea and Brian had

the same dream.

It was to be the

last of the dreams.

Madame and monsieur,

ladies and gentlemen.

For my next number I

will leap into the heart

of a fiery volcano.

I beg you don't do it.

Think of the flames.

Think of the flames.

Think of the children.

I have to do it.

My fans expect it of me.

I'll make a swan dive

into the volcano.

The single most glorious

leap into a roaring inferno

yet on record.

(rumbling)

[Alvin] After she

tried to kill herself,

the last and most

recent time, that is,

she wanted me to

listen to some music.

I want to play you something.

You know I hate that stuff.

Oh you'll like this,

it's from Salome.

You remember the story.

Father had a crush on

his teenage daughter.

[Alvin] It was his

stepdaughter I think.

Well that makes it

all right I suppose.

Why don't you

just sing it for me?

Wait, wait, coming up.

(opera music)

(speaking in foreign language)

You know what that means?

[Alvin] I only took

Spanish in high school.

The mystery of love is greater

than the mystery of death.

The mystery of love is greater

than the mystery of death.

I don't remember

what I answered.

But I wasn't up for

a serious discussion.

She was only just getting

better and I didn't

want to get her excited.

I tried to make a joke of it.

I think I may have said

I hate doctrine thinking.

The mystery of love is greater

than the mystery of death.

Or else I said,

oh that's a deep one.

The mystery of love is greater

than the mystery of death.

Oh I know what I said.

Yes, I said.

I'm not into religion.

That's it, that's what I said.

I'm sure of it.

[Voiceover] He

remembered what Lil said

but had forgotten

what he answered.

She, however, didn't.

It was part of the reason

that she left him forever.

The mystery of love is greater

than the mystery of death.

I guess that

guy never met you.

You must be exhausted.

I'm going to sleep for a week.

Before you do I

think we should talk.

That is if we still

know how to be serious.

You think we can get through it?

Maybe it's not the

right time to start.

If we don't do it now

we'll have to do it later

through our lawyers.

It's gone that far?

Further than you think.

Our life together?

We've gotten used to bad habits.

Even the way we

talk to each other.

The way we don't

talk to each other.

I know what it is.

We've become slaves to

an emotional routine

we both hate and can't stop.

That's it, isn't it?

If we don't stop there'd

be nothing left to save.

Save?

We used to love each other.

We used to be nice to

each other, remember?

Dimly.

Called each other sweetie

and honey all the time.

That wasn't fake.

Honey.

Hm.

Is it too late for us?

If I made a lot of

mistakes I'm sorry.

Don't you think we

can make a go of it?

You're not entirely

blameless, you know.

Maybe I should just shut up.

I almost made a

terrible mistake.

But I won't have

the baby after all.

Yes.

Let's try.

For a little while anyway.

[Voiceover] Viv

finished her novel about

Andrea and Andrew.

Andrew was mistaken.

The novel did not

make him famous.

It didn't even put

Viv on the map.

But it opened many

doors for her.

She began having an

affair with a man who had

seven brothers and sisters,

two ex-wives and five children.

He told her anecdotes and

incidents about everyone.

She took a lot of notes,

knowing there was a

story in there somewhere.

Oh, her novel about the twins

was called Others' Lives.

(upbeat music)

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