Marjorie Prime

I feel like I have

to perform around you.

It's just me.

It's just Walter.

Maybe it's not bad

if I feel that way.

I used to entertain a lot.

I remember.

Do you?

Marjorie, where are the dishes?

The girl did them, Julie.

She doesn't come until two.

I did them.

You didn't, your arthritis.

I'm having a good day.

Marjorie, we both know

what no dishes means.

It means I

haven't been eating.

Only a spoonful

of peanut butter.

I'm not hungry.

It's their fault, feeding

me all those pills.

The pills are their

fault or your doctors?

Only a spoonful?

Can I still play the violin?

I'm sure it's all in your

head still, but your hands.

[Music - Bryce dessner

and Richard Reed parry,

["wave movements"]

I could tell you a story.

You liked that the last time.

I'll have to take

your word for it.

I could tell you about

the time we saw a movie.

We went to a lot of movies.

But one time we saw "my

best friend's wedding."

"My best friend's wedding."

There was a woman,

Julia Roberts.

For a while, it was

always Julia Roberts.

And she had an agreement with

her best friend, her male best

friend, that if

they weren't married

by the time they

hit a certain age,

they would marry each other.

And she was about to remind

him of this agreement

when it turns out he

had already fallen

in love with a nice

blonde, Cameron Diaz.

So Julia Roberts

spends the entire movie

trying to ruin things

between her friend

and Cameron Diaz, which isn't

very sympathetic behavior

for America's sweetheart.

But in the end,

it all works out.

And she has a gay best friend

who delivers one liners.

You said you wanted a gay

best friend afterwards.

I had a gay best friend.

I had two of them.

I'll remember that now.

Why did you pick that story,

"my best friend's wedding?"

That was the night

I proposed to you.

Oh Marjorie, the

things you forget.

That's ok.

You were trying to tell

me and I wouldn't let you.

What if we saw

"Casablanca" instead.

Let's say that we saw

"Casablanca" in an old movie

theater with velvet seats,

and then on the way home

you proposed.

And then by the next time

we talk it will be true.

You mean make it up?

Oh, you're very serious.

Oh, you're like them,

especially Tess.

Our daughter.

Our daughter, Tess, and

her over-solicitous husband.

No... no, no that's not fair.

I like him.

I didn't then.

But now I do.

Do you like me?

Don't be an idiot.

Don't call me an idiot.

Idiot.

Why do you like

me if I'm an idiot?

What?

I'll get in trouble.

In trouble?

For talking to you that

way, in trouble with Tess.

You don't always

understand, do you?

Tell me about the

time we got Toni.

I told you that

story yesterday.

I like that story.

There was once a couple,

a very fine, young couple.

And he had a good strong jaw.

He was a little too

pleased with himself.

He had a good strong jaw,

and he was a little too

pleased with himself.

And she was the most

beautiful woman in town.

It wasn't a very big town,

but she was the queen of it.

It sounds like a fairy

tale when you tell it.

It is a fairy tale.

That's not very nice.

- I don't mean that...

- I thought that...

it never happened.

You were supposed

to provide comfort.

I meant that that's the way

it happened, like a fairy tale.

It was?

Now this couple was

feeling a bit lonely,

because they didn't

have any children yet.

So one day they decided

it was time to get a dog.

They took the bus down

to the city pound.

And there was a little

black dog there asleep,

its tummy going up and down

like a little sleeping shadow.

And so they named it Toni.

Toni.

Toni with an I.

With an I.

Short for antoinette.

She had a French name because

she was a French poodle.

But not the fussy kind

that look like hedges.

No, this was a poodle

for fetching sticks

and running on the beach.

So they took her

home on the bus.

She was very well behaved.

And they loved

her, and she loved

them back for a long time.

And then, like everything

else, she died.

Would you like me to keep going?

There's more after she died?

Yes.

Because the couple,

soon after, had a child.

Tess.

Which is a variation on Tessa,

which is Greek for "gatherer."

Oh, don't show off.

So when Tess was three years

old, they went to the pound.

Oh, yes.

The same pound.

They had an old

Subaru by this point,

so they didn't have

to take the bus.

And of course, they let young

Tess pick out the new dog.

There were more dogs there.

A cocker spaniel, a

noble gray pointer,

and a very attractive mutt.

But the amazing

thing, was Tess picked

the poodle, the little

black sleeping shadow.

That was the one

she liked the best.

And so we named it Toni two.

Toni two.

But that was soon

shortened to just Toni.

And of course, it

wasn't exactly Toni.

But the longer they

had her, the less

it mattered which Toni it

was that ran along the beach,

and which Toni it was the dug

up all the bulbs in the garden.

The more time that passed,

the more she became

the same dog in their memories.

Who told you all that?

You did.

I talk that much?

Well, you and Jon.

You have your good

days when you remember.

Another spoonful?

It was the second Toni

who loved the beach.

Though it's a shame we

didn't have her longer.

Even though she always

had sand in her hair.

Fur?

No, hair like a

human sounds right.

I'll remember that now.

Something's a little

off with the nose.

I'm sorry.

Or maybe it's my

memory and you're right.

Well, you're a good

Walter either way.

Thank you.

Stay with me while?

I don't want to

get you in trouble.

You learn like that.

I told you.

What would you like

to talk about now?

We don't have to

talk, we can just sit.

Sometimes I get so tired.

I'll be right here,

Marjorie, whenever you need.

I have all the

time in the world.

I still don't like it.

What?

The prime.

Ah.

Well, at this stage...

Who said it?

Companionship is the

most important thing.

You said it.

It's better than

watching television.

As if she's an infant

that needs to be pacified.

She wakes up, she doesn't

know where she is.

And by the way, what's

wrong with being pacified?

She's sleeping.

Those new pills seemed

to knock her out.

Peanut butter.

Oh, small miracles.

She's finally coming

to my campaign.

Or she's listening

to Walter prime.

They say it's like

a parrot that way.

Have a

spoonful, have a spoonful.

Did you know that

parrots live forever?

I have a student who's got her

dad's parrot after he died.

And she says even now

20 years later, it

still says things in his voice.

Like what?

Mostly just, hey

there, partner.

Words of wisdom.

Well, she says it's

not exactly his voice,

but she can definitely

tell that it's him.

Did you just...

The way she's so accepting of

it, does that creep you out?

It creeps me out.

Does it bother you that your

mother is talking to a computer

program, or that

a computer program

is pretending to be your dad?

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