Starfish Page #3

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all they have to do is

give him two sticks to stand on

and hooks to do everything else with

and their obligations to us

are totally discharged.

So...

if you can help us

do a little better than that

if you can help us to fund the technology

that will make Tom's life a better...

more bearable one

help him regain his self-respect

and allow him to make the contribution

that he's capable of

then not only will you be more caring

than the society you live in

but you will have

the undying gratitude...

of a small...

but very determined family.

Thank you.

- Look!

- I know!

Clever, isn't it?

It's good, isn't it?

I think this is going to take

a bit more work.

- Sorry.

- It's all right.

I was thinking...

maybe I could take Grace to playschool

tomorrow instead of your mum.

What? Not a good idea?

Maybe not yet.

She's got her routines.

She likes going with Mum.

I don't want to unsettle things.

And...

What?

The other kids.

Yeah...

Yeah... no, of course.

It was just a thought.

It's open.

Grace. Gracie.

- Hello.

- Grace, Nana's here.

- There's a good girl.

- Come on, you big lump.

There, good.

- One, two.

- Oh dear.

Hello, love.

Nic, you're drowning in here.

- Here you go.

- Come on, Freddy.

There's a good boy.

Have you talked to him yet?

Not yet.

Come on, let's go!

Off we go, with Nana.

- Bye.

- Bye.

See you later.

Come on, off we go.

I'll have to give the oar back soon.

I can't keep it forever.

Don't see why not.

You've done enough for them.

I can't, Tom.

I don't work there any more.

Besides, we're going to have to get

something bigger.

Well, what about the fund?

We can't use it for living costs.

We could go on holiday with it...

Joke.

Maybe we should use

the rest of the money to sue.

I don't know.

I still think that's a big ask.

Yeah. But if they'd taken me to

the right hospital...

or if we hadn't been left in A&E

for so long...

We can't afford it.

No.

Unless...

Mum suggested we sell this place

and move in with her.

Yeah, that's not one of her better ideas.

Well, I don't think it would be so bad.

It's much bigger and she's just

rattling around it by herself.

- No!

- She'd be a big help to me.

No!

Well, it'd save a lot.

Absolutely not.

Not ever. I don't even...

I don't even want to talk about it.

Tell her no.

This... this is our family house, Nic.

I'm not losing it.

We're staying here.

Final answer.

And again.

Go on, shoot!

Yeah, back.

Go get them, Fred.

Goal!

Good boy! Clever boy!

Oh, I know.

You ready?

Yeah...

I hope it's better than last time.

You're in good shape now.

He'll go for it.

God, I hope so.

I'm so sick of looking like this.

He will.

Come on, we don't want

to keep him waiting.

Good. Good.

Very good.

This is the bit I worry about.

It gives me trouble when I eat or drink.

Are you going to do more work on it?

Give me a properly functioning mouth?

Maybe one that looks a little better...

The nose is okay, I can um...

I can deal with that, but it's... it's...

The rest gets me down.

I understand.

And I wish I could be more optimistic.

To be honest, I'm not sure that

there's much more that I could achieve.

Or that the pain that I would have to

put you through would be worth the result.

Are you saying this is it?

This is how I stay?

It's not...

It's not going to get any better?

All the dribbling, the wetness...

the ugliness...

If you'd like, I can refer you to a

specialist for a second opinion.

I thought you were a specialist!

- I am. But-

- But?

Not in facial reconstruction.

You are my first.

He did save your life, Tom...

Fly away and back again.

Fly away and back again.

Do you remember when we used to do this

when you were kids?

Not really.

Well, we did.

If it's all the same to you

I'd prefer not to imagine you and me and

Dad in some sort of happy family scene.

I always wondered

why you married him.

Because I was in love with him.

Really?

Well, none of the rest of us were.

Yes, you were.

Not now, obviously,

but you were once.

He was your dad.

Not a fantastic man,

but... he was your dad.

I could never understand why

all the other kids had such great dads

and we were stuck with him.

Adam and I,

we used to talk about it for hours.

Wondering if we were going to grow up

to be as crap as he was.

You're nothing like him, either of you.

You're good fathers and you care about

the people you love.

Eat your food up, Gracie.

I am!

Yeah but you're not eating your meat.

- I am.

- You've got to eat your meat.

It'll make you strong, won't it, Mummy?

Yeah...

Do you want me to cut that up

for you, Freddy?

There.

You're doing very well.

There you are.

Mum, can you look after

Freddy tomorrow?

Yes, of course.

Well, I could look after him.

It's his toddler swimming.

Oh...

Can I have some more?

What, are we on rations

or something?

Your boyfriend called.

He wants to know if I'd be interested

in going back to work with him.

I'll bet he does.

We need the money, Tom.

Well, never mind.

I've done the lottery this week.

I've done five lines.

Pass the salt.

ThiS is pepper!

It doesn't matter. Don't bother.

It's bad for me anyway.

Everything's bad for me.

Can we go again tomorrow?

We've looked so many times.

Can't we go do something else?

Please?

No.

But what if the salty sea

brings one tonight?

It was a story.

I made it up.

You see, the salty sea

can't join up with our lake.

So the starfish can't get there.

But you said

all the water joins up somewhere.

Did I? Well, I made it up.

I shouldn't have done that.

People shouldn't make things up.

They should tell each other the truth.

But it might be the truth.

Grownups don't know everything.

No, they don't.

Night night.

Night night.

It's okay.

I'll get Nana to take me.

Grace.

Grace, what are you doing?

Nothing.

All right.

Tom?

I've left your pills out,

don't forget to take them.

No.

Promise?

No...

- Tom?

- Yes.

See you later.

What?!

Come on!

Hello?

Tom?

There isn't going to be

any f***ing compensation.

Dear Dad...

It's been a long time.

I hope you're well, and busy.

I've always followed your career

especially when you were

at the National.

You may not know this

but you were a big influence on us,.

I used to love doing accents

and dialects

but my mouth 's all swollen up now

and my lips are distorted

so the diction's mostly gone.

I wish things

had gone differently for us.

Where's the sense in life

if we just fill it with silence?

I woke up one night

and started to die.

It's made me realise that

our relationships are all we leave behind.

The thing is, Dad, I'm broke.

I mean really brassic.

The illness has cleaned us out

and it's getting to the point

where we're going under, So...

lam writing to ask if you can help us out

with a small loan -

help us get through the next few months

till I can get back into some kind of work.

If you can't spare a few bob,

perhaps we can still stay in touch

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