What Dreams May Come

Albert:
Chris, "here" is big enough for everyone to have their own private universe.

Chris Nielsen:
I need Annie.

Albert:
That'll change in time.

Chris Nielsen:
Oh, come on Einstein ! Time's not on my watch anymore. Time does not exist here. And wherever it went, it's not going to make me need Annie any less.

Chris Nielsen:
A whole human life is just a heartbeat here in Heaven. Then we'll all be together forever.

Chris Nielsen:
Annie, I'm here babe, I still exist.

Albert:
So what is the "me"?

Chris Nielsen:
My brain I suppose.

Albert:
Your brain ? Your brain is a body part. Like your fingernail or your heart. Why is that the part that's you?

Chris Nielsen:
Because I have sort of a voice in my head, the part of me that thinks, that feels, that is aware that I exist at all.

Albert:
So if you're aware you exist, then you do. That's why you're still here.

Chris Nielsen:
Boy, I screwed up. I'm in dog Heaven.

Chris Nielsen:
I found you in hell. Don't you think I could find you in Jersey!

Annie Nielsen:
A whole family lost to car crashes. Enough to make a person buy a bike.

Annie Nielsen:
Sometimes, when you lose, you win.

Chris Nielsen:
That's when I realized I'm part of the problem. Not because I remind you. But because I couldn't join you. So I left you alone. Don't give up, okay?

Annie Nielsen:
Dear Diary, I am writing in your bullshit pages because my shrink is crazier then I am. He thinks you're therapy. He figures if two babies can hammer me into a Psycho ward, what will I do with this ? He is so stupid. He's so stupid that he thinks he pulled me through the breakdown when it was Christy. Always. Only Chis. I was looking through his postcards. Paintings were his obsession. He used art as another way to love me, to help me. To keep us always together.

Chris Nielsen:
Thank you for every kindness. Thank you for our children. For the first time I saw them. Thank you for being someone I was always proud to be with. For your guts, for your sweetness. For how you always looked, for how I always wanted to touch you. God, you were my life. I apologize for everytime I ever failed you. Especially this one...

Chris Nielsen:
There's a man Ian never got to know, the man he was growing up to be. He's a good-looking clear-eyed fella... about 25. I can see him. He's the type of guy men want to be around, because he has integrity, you know ? He has character. You can't fake that. And he's a guy women want to be around, too. Because there's tenderness in him... respect... and loyalty, and courage. And women respond to that. Makes him a terrific husband, this guy. I see him as a father. That's where he really shines. See, when he looks in his kid's eyes and that kid knows that his dad really, really sees him... he sees who he is. Then that child knows that he is an amazing person. He's quite a guy... that I'll never get to meet. I wish I had.

Chris Nielsen:
Where is God in all of this?

Albert:
Oh, He's up there. Somewhere... shouting down that He loves us. Wondering why we can't hear Him. You think?

The Tracker:
You were expecting physical danger ? What could it do, kill ya, huh ? No, in Hell there's real danger. Of losing your mind.

The Tracker:
You called your son Albert. Who is that ?

Chris Nielsen:
First doctor I interned under. He was like a father to me.

The Tracker:
Ah. His words were gold. A brillinat mind. Do you recall what he practiced before he turned to pediactrics ?

Chris Nielsen:
Child psychia-...

The Tracker:
...psychiatry. Yeah. And he always was a slow reader. But these...

The Tracker:
...used to be rimless, and the rest of me... used to be black.

The Tracker:
I also used to read too slow. I don't need these glasses.

The Tracker:
...my eyes being a figment of my imagination.

Chris Nielsen:
When I was young, I met this beautiful girl at a lake.

The Tracker:
Elevator to Hell. Going up.

Leona:
D you wanna see others? Perhaps the city?

Chris Nielsen:
I would, but travel makes me nauseous.

Annie Nielsen:
Can I sit here?

Chris Nielsen:
Actually, no. Two years ago, I reserved this specific area.

Annie Nielsen:
What if I say please ?

Chris Nielsen:
That's the one exception.

The Tracker:
This is the guy who doesn't give up.

The Tracker:
Your wife love you as strong ? We'll find her. But when we find her nothing will make her recognize you. Nothing will break her denial. It's stronger than her love. In fact, reinforced by her love. You can say everything you long to say, including good-bye. Even if she can't understand it. And you'll have the satisfaction that you didn't give up. That has to be enough.

Chris Nielsen:
You just get me there, I'll decide what's enough.

Chris Nielsen:
What's true in our minds is true, whether some people know it or not.

Chris Nielsen:
What some folks call impossible, is just stuff they haven't seen before.

Albert:
You don't understand.

Chris Nielsen:
It's not about understanding... it's about *not* giving up!

[Flashback — Chris and Marie are playing chess]

Marie:
[looks at a cardboard cutout of Heaven] Is this where we go when we die?

Chris:
It's a dream, baby. It's a beautiful one, but you know dreams...

Marie:
I know, aren't real. I know.

Chris:
[glances at his watch] It's after midnight.

Marie:
I haven't won yet.

Chris:
It's your first time.

Marie:
No, I like that I haven't won yet. Means you're not cheating. And when I win, I win. I just want to play 'til I do. Unless you want to stop.

Chris:
No. Let's play 'til you win.

[back to the present…]

Chris:
She died three months later. We played every night. Meant the world to me. But she never won.

Leona:
Where were you just now? Your mind's been wondering all afternoon.

Chris:
Thinking of someone.

Leona:
Your wife must have loved her children very much.

Chris:
Very much. But you don't have to break in half to love somebody.

Albert:
Each of us has an instinct that there is a natural order to our journey. And Annie's violated that. She won't face it. She won't realize, accept, what she's done. And she will spend eternity playing that out.

Chris:
You're still saying she's in Hell...

Albert:
Everyone's Hell is different. It's not all fire and pain. The real Hell is your life gone wrong.

The Tracker:
Anyone ever tell you too much persistence can get kind of stupid?

Chris:
Constantly.

The Tracker:
I hear the same thing.

The Tracker:
You called your son Albert. Who is that?

Chris:
First doctor I interned under. He was like a father to me.

The Tracker:
Ah. His words were gold. A brilliant mind. Do you recall what he practiced before he turned to pediactrics?

Chris:
Child psychia-...

The Tracker:
...psychiatry. Yeah. And he always was a slow reader. But these... [indicating his glasses] used to be rimless, and the rest of me... used to be black. Do you know why we choose to look so different, me and the children?

Chris:
Package doesn't count? One's as good as the other?

The Tracker:
Oh, no. The old baggage, old roles of authority, who's the teacher, who's the father, gets in the way of who we really are to each other.

Annie:
So you reconciled. That's very romantic. But she still killed herself. In the end she gave up.

Chris:
There's nothing wrong with that.

Annie:
Her husband didn't think so.

Chris:
He was a coward! Being strong, not giving up, it was just his place to hide. He pushed away the pain so hard he disconnected himself from the person he loved most. [pause] Sometimes when you win, you lose.

Chris Nielsen:
A place where we all go can't be bad, can it girl?

Chris Nielsen:
Is that a kind of occupational hazard of soul mates — one's not much without the other?

Chris Nielsen:
If I was going through f***ing HELL, I'd only want one person in the whole goddamn world by my side.

Chris Nielsen:
Good people end up in Hell because they can't forgive themselves. I know I can't. But I can forgive you.

Annie Nielsen:
Well, that's my role. To bring adventure to your life.

Albert Lewis:
Thought is real. Physical is the illusion. Ironic, huh?

Albert Lewis:
Your brain is meat, and rots and disappears. Do you really think that's all there was to you? Like you're in your house right now. You're in your house, that doesn't mean you are your house. House falls down, you get out and walk away.