Rose Red Page #4

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Mama, what about Annie's side?|The Gatt School...

What planet are you on?|The Gatt School with $5000?

Professor Reardon has promised 12!

I knew she was crazy, now you?|20 grand's what it would take. A year.

Rose Red is famous. If something|happens, it'll be worth a fortune.

Oh, yeah, sure. I can just|see her on "Geraldo".

"I'm Annie Wheaton. I'll tell folks|about a haunted house."

- Stop it! Don't mock her.|- I'm saving her.

From crazy lady one and crazy lady two.|Now that is it.

This case is closed. I don't|wanna hear anymore about it.

Stop it, Annie! Stop it!

Make her stop!

What do you think, Dad?

What do you think Annie wants?

Stop it, Annie!

George!

Make her stop!|For God's sake, George!

Please, make her stop!

- We thought you were lost.|- No. Just misplaced.

- May I propose a toast?|- Sure.

To Rose Red.

Rose Red.

Joyce, she's looking,|still hoping for one more.

Six. Six is the number.

A girl, a teenager.

And I think our dear professor|will be in luck.

Is that something you see?

What's your special trick, Pam?

I'm what psychic journals|call a touch-know.

It doesn't always work but sometimes|when I handle things...

...I see stuff or get feelings.

Of course, a lot of times|there's nothing.

What about you, Vic?

Two people, mid-20s.

She's in a blue dress.|He's in jeans.

He's blond, over-golded.

He's got a case of Roman hands|and Russian fingers.

What in the world are you talking...?

Let's go outside. You wanna?

- Sure.|- All right.

-Trs chic, n'est-ce pas? |- You're precognitive!

I can tell a hawk from a handsaw|when the wind's in the northwest.

- What about you, Cathy?|- I'm an automatic writer.

- A Ouija board.|- Yes, but I don't like Ouija boards.

The channel's too wide and sometimes|what comes through is unpleasant.

This is better. Sometimes it's precog,|sometimes it's astral.

Mostly it's just people to people.

Someone concentrate hard. You, Pam.

Oh, okay, let's see.

I guess it's not working.

Steve?

What about you, St...? Nick.

He calls her Dee.|Now why does he do that, I wonder?

Nick?

I do a little of this,|a little of that.

Sometimes I get lucky|and things turn out okay.

What about our new friend, Emery?|What about him?

Your friend, not mine.

Yeah, I think Emery is chiefly|post-cognitive. He sees the past.

Not the most comfortable of talents.

Here's to good thoughts, goodwill.

Good thoughts, goodwill.

Who are you?

Why are you here?|Where are you from?

When are you from?

Is it Rose Red?

Read my lips.

Save the warnings for someone|who's not broke. Okay?

I remember that day.

She was happy, wasn't she?

- We all were.|- Oh, man, would you look at this?

Guess those were the days, huh?|lgnorance is bliss.

Daddy, what Annie is,|isn't anyone's fault.

Not hers, not mine, not yours.

I know. But you're too busy thinking|about what you want for her...

...to think about what she can do.

Remember when|the Stantons' dog bit her?

How the stones came down?|Or what she did to those pipes?

After tonight, how can you have|any doubts about what she wants?

Sweetheart, taking Annie into|a genuinely haunted house?

That's like using a lighter|to see how full your gas tank is.

It's a chance. That's what you don't|get. A chance for her to get out...

And for you to get out from under.

I just want what's best for Annie.

I know, Sissy, but you don't know|what that is.

Believe me.

Come, Annie. Come.

Shame you can't do the same|with the other 40,000 or so.

People read it today and line|litter boxes with it tomorrow.

They'll remember.

Some will take it out next time|the university bond issue comes up.

A photo like this could put a hundred|worthwhile programs to beggary.

But what do you care?

Do you have a point?|Get to it. I have a lot to do.

Crystals to polish? Ouijas to wax?

You put Bollinger up to this,|didn't you?

You told him where to go|and when to point his camera.

Your paranoia's showing.

That's a nasty little cut.

Listen, I'm afraid I have a bit|of bad news for you, old girl.

I am not old, not yet anyway.

And I am certainly not your girl.|What are you talking about?

Executive committee's been|in session regarding tenure.

What? Why? No one's up for tenure.|The only thing they could...

You really are a bastard.

They voted five to two to revoke|your tenure. We tried to contact you.

You'll find a message.|I thought the spirits would tell you.

The general consensus is,|it's time to stop the silliness.

- I'll fight you every step of the way.|- Of course, and you'll lose.

Your days of haunting the Wimser|Psychology Department...

...aren't over, but numbered.

- When I come back with proof, you...|- The rallying cry of crackpots...

...and deluded religionists since|the Stone Age: "The proof's out there."

This is sad. You were respected|in the field of child psychology...

...but then you got bitten|by the virus!

It's a legitimate field|of psychological...

It's crap, sleaze, a spit|in the eye of rational thought.

Rose Red will be your last|goose chase as a faculty member.

You're an idiot and you're blind.

What if you found proof?

Photographs, audio recordings|of clanking chains, telemetry.

What good would it do? Have you|even considered such thoughts?

I feel remarkably well today, Carl,|in spite of all your crap.

And this, this is the world|we live in...

...and experience with our senses.|Skin, smooth and rational.

Where every cause has an effect and|can be predicted with data at hand.

There's a world under that world.

Blood, under the skin. Rationalistic|asses like you don't see it.

It's liquid instead of solid.|Hot instead of just warm.

It is a world full of mystery.

You don't like it, do you? No.

Don't give me your bull|about bond issues.

You're afraid of what's|under the skin.

But I'm not. Do you hear me, Carl?|I'm not.

- Lf you've given me something...|- That's what it comes down to.

You're afraid to catch something.|Get out.

Go to the infirmary|and get an AIDS test.

When the semester's over,|you're done.

You're finished teaching.|You're crazy! You're insane!

Good day, old boy.

What are you looking at?!|Look at it somewhere else!

We did it, didn't we?|We really nailed her.

What's on your face?

Never mind. Never mind.

We have a lot to talk about,|young man.

The story's not over?

It's just beginning.|It's just beginning.

From the Department of Questions|Better Not Answered:

If a tree falls in the forest and|no one hears it, does it make noise?

Who cuts the barber's hair?

Who leaves money under|the tooth fairy's pillow?

How come no one realizes Clark Kent...

...is just Superman wearing glasses?

If I didn't own Rose Red,|would I be in bed with you right now?

Hello.

- How was your day, dear?|- Give it back.

How was your day? Or should I just|roll over and make myself small?

They revoked my tenure. Carl Miller|dropped by to give me the news.

- Wait, can they do that?|- Maybe, probably.

Bollinger made us look like the Stupid|family, with me as head Stupid.

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