Phoebe In Wonderland Page #3

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My mother.

Made her nervous.

Do you hide things

from your parents...

If you thlnk

lt'll make them nervous?

Of course.

What do you and the Red Queen

talk about?

Wonderland.

How nice it is to have a place...

...where things aren't

quite so fixed.

It's all the opposite there,

you know.

It'd be nice if...

...lf...

It were the same here.

Same how?

Different.

Oh, please your majesty...

...spare us.

What shall we do?

Girls...

...girls...

Thls Is not real

for you,:

...this is not real

for us.

Your heads are

about to be chopped off.

This is high drama.

There is fear.

There is panic.

Listen.

Can you hear them?

The executloners...

...are walking down the hall

this very moment.

They are pounding at the door.

What do you do?

There would be

weeping and ranting...

...sobs and cries,

plans for escape.

Will no one

take mercy on us?

Bring in the scene next week.

I want to feel the terror

of the last moments of your life.

Take risks, jump.

What does she want

from us?

It's just

a dumb play.

We're only ten.

Ten?

Ten?

When I was ten...

I played Cleopatra

as she fed the asp to her breast.

It was breathtaking.

The audience

was on the edge of their seats.

You could hear a pin drop,

they were so entranced.

My ten-year-old niece

is hard at work...

...unlocking the mysteries

of Stonehenge.

You'll be reading about her

within the year.

Ten, indeed.

Now, continue.

Alice, White Queen,

pick up where we left off.

I wish I could manage

to be glad...

...only I can never

remember the rule.

You must be very happy

belng glad whenever you llke.

Only it's

so very lonely here.

Oh, don't go on like that.

Consider what a great girl

you are.

Consider what

o'clock it is.

Consider anything,

only please don't cry.

Can you keep from crying

by considering things?

There, you see?

Two lines.

In two lines,

she went from utter despondency...

...to complete joy.

Two lines;

brava, Phoebe.

Come on, trust falls,

and then the musical number.

Come on.

Ready?

Yes.

No...oh.

Uh, what's...

...what's this?

Principal Davis,

I didn't hear you.

Trust falls.

Trust falls.

Well, that...that...

...you know,

that seems a bit reckless...

...don't you think?

Nonsense, it's liberating.

Dangerous.

Ready?

Yes.

One, two, three.

Oh.

She's quite remarkable, Phoebe.

Thank you.

You're lucky.

Trick or treat.

Well, good evening, Alice.

"Good evening, Alice."

And who are you?

A man wlth a beard?

Karl Marx.

Thanks for the candy.

Happy Halloween.

Did the psychiatrist

say anything else?

Not yet.

OCD.

Clearly, partly.

When I was a kid,

I counted telephone poles...

...from the car.

If I missed one, we'd crash.

Nobody labeled me.

It's just the way kids are.

No, it's different.

Her hand...

Well, what do you

want me to say?

How come no one knows

who I am?

It's esoteric, sweetie.

You're very original.

Now, go try

this other house.

Trlck or treat.

Don't let the poppies

put you to sleep.

Have you ever read

Allce In Wonderland?

Of course.

When?

I don't know;

it was a while ago.

Given that it's

what my work's all about...

...doesn't that seem...

I don't know...f***ed up?

I'm gonna get the bag.

Trick or treat.

Raisins bite.

Phoebe.

You're fat.

I'm sorry.

She's my younger sister.

She doesn't know

what she's saying.

Fat, fat water rat.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow.

Just out of curiosity...

...how am I supposed to care

about your work when you don't?

I have no time.

Because you make no time.

for Olivia's birthday tomorrow.

I didn't ask you

to stop working.

What am I supposed to do

with 30 children indoors?

- Hillary, please.

- But you didn't stop working.

What...what are we supposed

to live on?

Hmm?

All right, look,

I have my index due tomorrow.

Of course you do.

But I-I'll help you.

I don't need your help.

All right, fine.

The poppies are in Oz.

Where's Daddy going?

He had some work to do.

But it's Halloween.

What are you doing?

Take my candy.

Why?

It's my fault

Daddy leaving.

No, he had work to do.

Come on.

I hate Halloween.

Mom!

No...Mom?

There, there.

It's all right.

It's okay.

It's okay.

I've got you.

You're safe.

I'm here.

You're safe.

I'm here.

There.

Okay, here.

- Let me see.

- No.

- Let me see.

- No!

Let me see.

Oh, no, no, no,

I thought we were done with that.

I'm sorry.

What happened?

Nothing.

Phoebe.

It was...

it was the stairs.

But I had to...

every three...

...three steps at a time.

What?

Say it again.

What, what?

I had to do it.

It was the stair stepping.

Yeah.

And I had to do every

three stairs at a time.

Why?

I can't help it.

Why?

I don't know why.

I just...

I want you to know.

You...you want me

to know?

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

I want you to know why I...

I want you to know why

I do all these things.

I don't know why, Mommy.

Okay, okay.

Okay.

I don't know why.

Okay, I got you.

I got you.

I'll find out.

No.

She doesn't have that.

You are all so ready to label,

medicate, and move on...

...as if a name

means something...

...as if all the answers

are in a bottle.

I've seen that solution.

I have seen it

all around me...

...and it is a life of side effects

and dulled minds.

Your profession just

doesn't like kids to be kids.

No.

I'll tell you what this is.

Because, see, she was never

this way, not this much...

...so this is something new.

And what it is,

is, it's a little girl...

...who has somehow got it

into her mind that I...

...that I...that I don't love her.

Because when you

put it all together...

...and you try to make sense of it...

...she's obsessed with Wonderland,

and I'm writing a book on it...

...and I realized she is doing it

to be close to me...

...because she can tell...

She can tell

that I'm distracted.

And that's my fault...

...that I let her see that.

That's my fault.

Who did this?

I'd like to know who did this.

Miss Dodger, forget about it.

Who wrote the word "f*ggot"

on Jamie's costume?

Jamie, look up

the word "f*ggot,"

...which, correctly spelled,

is F-A-G-G-O-T.

Look up the word, please,

and tell me what it says.

"F*ggot...

"a bundle of stlcks

or twlgs...

...bound together."

Is that what Jamie is?

A bundle of sticks?

When you attach a word

to a person...

...you had better know

what it means first.

Does anyone here want to own up

to idiocy as well as cruelty?

There used to be a day when

women weren't allowed to act...

...and young boys would play women.

It was in Shakespeare's day...

...and these great women,

Ophelia, Rosalind...

...were played by young boys...

...who could act

with such a depth of passion...

...that they would bring tears

to the eyes...

...of everyone who watched.

These boys performed the greatest

theatrical roles ever written...

...and they inspired all.

Jamie is only doing what boys

have done for centuries and...

Take your places for the top

of act one.

Today we have experienced a tragedy.

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