The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Page #5

Have you been in the Far East?

No. I've never been anywhere,

really. I mean outside harbors.

And where is it that you're from?

-New Orleans, Louisiana.

I didn't know

there was another.

And she told me about

all the places she had been.

What she had seen.

And we talked till

just before the dawn.

And we went back to our rooms,

to our separate lives.

But every night, we'd

meet again in that lobby.

A hotel in the middle of the

night can be a magical place.

A mouse running and stopping.

A radiator hissing.

A curtain blowing.

There's something peaceful,

even comforting,

knowing that people you love

are asleep in their beds,

where nothing can harm them.

Elizabeth and I would

lose track of the night,

till just before daybreak.

I think I may have given you

the wrong impression.

I beg your pardon?

Well, married women don't

customarily sit around

in the middle of the night

with strange men in hotels.

I wouldn't know what a married

woman does and doesn't do.

Good night!

Murmansk.

"I've met somebody and

I've fallen in love." Mom?

That was over 60 years ago.

-Did you love him, mother?

-What does a girl know about love?

I'm not dressed. -You look

splendid just as you are.

Don't waste any time bothering

about the wine or the cheese

in Murmansk, cause they are

really completely ordinary.

But the caviar and the vodka

are sublime and plentiful.

So...

Savor it... and don't

eat it all at once.

Because that way, there's

nothing left to enjoy.

Now take a little swallow of vodka

while it's still in your mouth.

Nazdrovia.

You haven't been with

many women, have you?

Not on sundays.

And you've never had a girlfriend

before, have you? -No ma'am.

When I was nineteen,

I attempted to become

the first woman ever to

swim the English Channel.

Really?

But the current that day

was so strong that...

for every stroke I took,

I was pushed back two.

I was in the water

for 32 hours.

And when I was

two miles from Calais,

it started to rain.

When I couldn't go any further,

I stopped.

I just stopped.

And everybody asked me

would I try again.

Why wouldn't I?

I never did.

As a matter of fact,

I've never done anything

with my life after that.

Your hands are so coarse.

I can feel the wind

in your cheeks.

I'm afraid it's

the witching hour.

It was the first time

a woman had ever kissed me.

It's something

you never forget.

-Benjamin!

-You make me feel younger.

You make me feel years

younger too. I wish I was.

So many things I'd change.

I'd undo all my mistakes.

What mistakes?

I kept waiting, you know.

Thinking that I'd do something

to change my circumstances.

Do something.

Such an awful waste,

you never get it back.

Wasted time.

If we're going to have an affair,

you're never to look

at me during the day.

And we're always to

part before sunrise,

and we will never say

"I love you".

Those are the rules.

Are you cold?

-I'm freezing.

She was the first woman

that ever loved me.

Want me to skip some?

No, glad he had somebody

to keep him warm.

I couldn't wait

to see her again.

We saw each other every night.

We always used the same room.

But each time seemed

new and different.

Come here.

Elizabeth...

Good night.

Until one night.

Yesterday, December 7th 1941,

the day which will live in infamy.

...in the near future,

and possibly beyond.

There's been a change

of plan, lads.

As you may or may not know,

the Japs bombed

Pearl Harbor yesterday.

Frank D. Roosevelt asked

each of us to do our part.

The Chelsea's been commissioned

to serve in the United States Navy.

To repair, salvage

and to rescue.

Anybody doesn't wanna go to war,

now's the time to say so.

Once you set foot on that boat,

you're in the Navy, friend.

I've been meaning to

talk with you, Mike.

My wife's doing poorly.

I'd like to maybe

see her one more time.

You're free to make your way

home any way you can, Mr Mayes.

If he's leaving,

who's gonna cook?

Food poisoning is one of the

leading causes of death at sea.

Right after inadequate

safety equipment.

I can cook, captain.

Been doin' it all my life.

Yeah, I knew it. You're a little

too old for war, Benjamin.

Ah, what the hell.

I'll take any man

who wants to kick the sh*t

out of Japs and Huns.

That's it! Back to your gear.

We're going to war, gentlemen!

She had left a note.

She wrote "It was nice

to have met you."

And that was it.

It wasn't the war

any of us expected.

We just towed crippled ships.

Scraps of metal, really.

If there was a war,

we didn't see it.

There was a man assigned to us.

The Chief Gunner loved the Navy.

But most of all,

he loved America.

There is no other

country in the world!

When you spell A.M.E.R.I.C.A,

you're spelling freedom.

His name was Dennis Smith and

he was a full blooded Cherokee.

His family had been americans

for over 500 years.

These pacifists. They say

they won't fight on conscience.

Where would we be...

if everybody decided to act

according to their conscience?

Keep it down, would you chief!

Hey...

I've been watching you.

You seem trustworthy.

If something happens to me,

could you see that

this gets to my wife?

He had given me all of his pay.

Hadn't spent a dime of it.

I want my family to know

that I was thinking about them.

All hands on deck!

Get you asses up here,

you lazy bastards!

The war had finally found us.

Full stop!

Pleasant, get on that light.

A transport carrying 1300 men

had been split by a torpedo.

We were first to

arrive at the scene.

Stop the engine!

Full stop!

We were the only sound.

Fellows!

We surely can't count

to outrun them f***ers.

Battle stations!

What?

Is that the last one?

Captain!

They shot the hell

out of my paintin'!

Give me your hand.

You'll be alright,

captain Mike.

Nice spot in heaven's

waitin' for you. Nice spot.

You could be mad as a mad dog

at the way things went.

You could swear,

curse the fates...

but when it comes to the end...

you have to let go.

Captain.

I said my goodbyes to the

Cherokee, Dennis Smith.

John Grimm who was right,

he was gonna die there.

I sent Pleasant Curtis'

wife his money.

I said goodbye to

the twin, Vic Brody,

and to Mike Clark, captain

of the tugboat "Chelsea."

I said goodbye to all the other men,

who had dreams of their own.

All the men who wanted to be

insurance salesmen or doctors

or lawyers or Indian chiefs.

This don't get fixed.

Out here, death

didn't seem natural.

I had never seen a hummingbird

that far out to sea.

Before or since.

And in may of 1945,

when I was 26 years old...

I'm coming!

Queenie? -Yes.

Oh, sweet Jesus!

You're home!

Lord, you came back!

Let me look at you!

Who's that, mama? -Child,

it's your brother, Benjamin.

I didn't know he

was my brother.

There's a sh*t load of

things you don't know.

Finish sweeping, wash your hands

and help me with the table. C'mon!

Turn around. Oh, you look

like you've been born again!

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