1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,120 CZ Studio and Radio Verte presents The Wild Wind by Corey Zimmerman. 2 00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:27,200 Chapter 20. 3 00:00:35,120 --> 00:01:01,200 The Wild Wind by Corey Zimmerman. 4 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:11,200 Trains often pass through the valley, but this train was unusual, consisting of colorful box cars and elongated flat cars carrying large wagons. 5 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:17,200 As its whistle screamed, the brakes screeched and it came to a halt at the asylum depot. 6 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:35,200 A large mural painted brightly on the side of the first red box car depicted a giant roaring lion with the word circus arched above. 7 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:42,200 The engine barely came to a halt before an army of rustabouts unload a fleet of wagons onto the platform. 8 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:47,200 Dr. Zola watched from the attic window of the Bronson building, his phonograph playing. 9 00:01:47,200 --> 00:02:01,200 When he spotted the first of the gilded wagons pulled by horse to the summit of the bluff, it didn't take long for patients in attendance to drift from their cottages in the wonder at the caravan that circled upon the front lawn. 10 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:15,200 Daily life at the asylum had come to a sudden standstill and everyone gathered to watch the tent city go up in a matter of hours, everyone gawking in bafflement at the array of clowns, midgets, and freaks. 11 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,200 Zebras were fed and camels led to the pond for a drink. 12 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:26,200 An elephant had its toenails trimmed and a lion paced its cage, roaring at anyone who approached too closely. 13 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:33,200 The tent city soon occupied a significant portion of the lawn with the big top nestled right in the middle of it all. 14 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:39,200 Candy peddlers, lemonade, farm prawn fans, sausages, and roasted peanuts. 15 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:47,200 The environment was pungent, thrilling with the wide array of sensational sounds, colors, and exotic smells to take in. 16 00:02:47,200 --> 00:03:01,200 The air was electrified for the entirety of the globe had arrived right at the doorstep of the hilltop. 17 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:10,200 An hour before the show, as the sun was settling into the horizon, the fireflies bedazzled, and the crowds of patients, attendants, and their families, 18 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:17,200 and many locals were lured into the sideshow tent by colorful lithograph posters illustrating the marvels inside, 19 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:20,200 and by a velvety voice peeler, shouting, 20 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:28,200 Step right up, folks, step right up! Witness firsthand the bearded lady, the skeleton man, the dog-faced boy. 21 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:37,200 Innumerable bodies, nimble and muscular, fat and hairy, others shockingly thin, flexible, glass and fire-eating, legless and armless, 22 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:45,200 midgets, jugglers, platespinners, magicians, contortionists, Siamese twins, in a tramp clown and tattered clothes, 23 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:52,200 stumbling about seemingly wasted on rye, a swirling madness of bewilderment, leaving one to wonder, 24 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:57,200 Who exactly are the crazy ones? 25 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:05,200 The sideshow tent led to the menagerie tent, where the audience must pass before going into the main performance, in the big top. 26 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:11,200 Along the way, the bears' lounge, offering sights of the large grizzly being fed chunks of meat. 27 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:16,200 Onward for the lion's den, where the large main cat paced anxiously in its cage, 28 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:22,200 past the corral of colorfully painted horses, adorned in feathers, peacocks fidgeting nearby, 29 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:27,200 an array of exotic animals in beautifully carved wagons lining the perimeter, 30 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:35,200 an elephant followed by camels, llamas, a bison and zebras, all forming a line circling the tent. 31 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:45,200 A lively brass circus band instructed the million audience stumbling about that it was time to head inside the big top for the main program. 32 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:50,200 The candy peddlers chatted and skirted about the carnivorous tent, 33 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:56,200 a massive canvas space propped aloft by huge poles and ropes that could hold over a thousand people, 34 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:01,200 as the main event began, everyone was seated, Bookbinder, Fanny and myself, 35 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:07,200 immersed in the dizzying sea of the oddest audience this circus had ever had by all means. 36 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,200 In the vast sea of faces stretching out in every direction, 37 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:17,200 one would have never known by their exceptional behavior the excessive degree of insanity in the stands. 38 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,200 The Grand Parade 39 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:27,200 A procession of animals and performers marked the start of the show. 40 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:35,200 A rider on horseback grabbed the spotlight as he sprang suddenly to his feet upon his horse, sweeping round and round at double the speed, 41 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:39,200 as he put one foot on the horse's head and the other on its shoulder, 42 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:49,200 the horse and he both leaning into the ring at an angle which seemed to threaten at any moment to send him whirling into the sawdust, the audience unable to breathe. 43 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:55,200 Wonder mixed with a little dash of fear, grace, power and speed, with archnek and flashing eye, 44 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:59,200 they flew around the ring at the rate of 8-10 miles an hour. 45 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:05,200 Then another rider straddled two cantering horses while other horses bearing flags passed between his legs, 46 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:11,200 the massive audience applauded the daring act of horsemanship by a child on his bareback steed, 47 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:21,200 in a series of leaps backward and forwards turning and twisting, riding the beast in every sort of fashion on every part of him except his ears and tail, 48 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:29,200 an equestrian gymnast sweeping around the ring once then twice clinging with arms and legs upside down from the creature's neck. 49 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:39,200 After the elephant rose up on its hind legs, scantily clad performers in blazing splashes of peacock blue, orange, molten red, yellow, grass green, plum and gold, 50 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:49,200 their athletic prowess and sleek muscular bodies performed a stark majesty of acrobatic feats that startled and subdued the spectators into silent worship. 51 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:56,200 A woman standing just five feet in height stood in a cage with the lion, and the excitement of the crowd rose to its highest pitch, 52 00:06:56,200 --> 00:07:01,200 with the enormous jaws of the beast open for the reception of the woman's skull. 53 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:09,200 A man dressed in glittery silver with a broad smile waved large at the crowd before climbing into a silver-painted cannon. 54 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:18,200 After a countdown of ten in a shattering blast, he was shot fifty yards across the air, landing perfectly in a net on the far end of the tent. 55 00:07:18,200 --> 00:07:25,200 Applause erupted by those lucid enough to understand a world gone mad before their eyes. 56 00:07:25,200 --> 00:07:31,200 Following this act, a wire walker with a balancing pole walked out upon the tightrope. 57 00:07:31,200 --> 00:07:40,200 He tossed the pole to the ground below as he started alternating between walking and running across the rope and occasionally lying on his back or standing on his head or turning somersaults. 58 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:47,200 He was followed by a four-man pyramid that cycled across the tightrope on his heels, everyone gasping with fear and amazement, 59 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:55,200 as others gibbered to themselves chewing off their nails as a man fired a cannonball into his own stomach, the crowd gasping for a breath. 60 00:07:55,200 --> 00:08:05,200 Clowns in red-striped cotton stockings with full trunks dotted red and black, faces painted white with lead with red noses, rode donkeys in tandem, 61 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:11,200 and a clown and his donkey sat down to supper together sharing a carrot pie before bellowing a charming duo. 62 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:18,200 A bear named Teddy coming into the ring, walking on his hind legs, arm in arm with a drunken clown who offered Teddy a bottle. 63 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:23,200 Teddy took the bottle, put it to his mouth, tumbled down, and rolled about in a drunken stupor. 64 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:31,200 The trapeze performance began, 20 feet in the air, when the performer jumped off the high platform so that gravity created a swing. 65 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:38,200 At the far end of the first swing, she swung back above the audience, and then at the far end of the second swing, she released the bar, 66 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:45,200 and after a triple somersault, she was caught by another performer who hung by his knees on another trapeze. 67 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:59,200 The grand finale began with a stunt called the Sleight of Death, as a tall man walked onto the tightrope and stood on his hands near one of the guidelines that dropped at a 45 degree angle, where it was anchored to the ground. 68 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:13,200 He lowered his head onto the guideline, and with no safety harness, he let go with his hands and with the speed of gravity, slid down the wire on nothing but his head, and just before he collided with the ground, he performed a backflip landing to his feet. 69 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:24,200 The exacerbated crowd burst into applause, but immediately grew silent to the sight of an illustrious Spanish lady in a rose-red, leafy dress with silky runner hips, 70 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:31,200 looking like the loveliest parasol, who walked out to the end of a high dive 45 feet above a small pool below. 71 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:38,200 The crowd held its breath, and Fanny squeezed my hand, and I could see Book squirming on the bench out of the corner of my eye. 72 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:49,200 The Spanish lady then slowly leaned forward, diving off head first, and she flew through a series of tissue paper-covered hoops, one after the next plummeting toward the earth. 73 00:09:49,200 --> 00:10:00,200 My teeth clenched, Fanny's grasp tightened, and Book squirmed squirmier, and when she gracefully plunged into the pool of water with hardly a splash, and we all exhaled at once, 74 00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:11,200 the big top erupted in one loud ceaseless roar that echoed down the ravines and across the river and into its deep waters, to be carried onward. 75 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:23,200 An arousing array of colorful horses then raced around the outer edge of the ring as a clown helped the lady from the pool. Upon leaving the ring, the Spanish diver bowed smiling and throwing a kiss to the crowd, 76 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:30,200 and another directly toward Dr. Zollo, the master behind the curtain, who rose to his feet clapping mightily. 77 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:44,200 After the performance, attendance led the overstimulated patients out of the big top, where the cannonball man was in the menagerie, offering to let anyone who dared punch him in the gut as hard as they may. 78 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:59,200 And before anyone noticed, Big Ben walked up with a pie-covered face and punched him right in the gut without warning, knocking the wind right out of him, causing him to hunch over, gasping for air. 79 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:13,200 Nurse Kate rushed over and grabbed onto Big Ben and began to apologize to the breathless man profusely, but out of embarrassment and struggling to speak, he simply waved her on, and Fanny began to laugh hysterically, and she began to cough. 80 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:37,200 And cough and cough and cough, herself lunged over, desperate for a breath, as Book's eyes widened in concern, as a half-dozen clown chased a midget in circles around the long striped pant legs of a man on stilts and a top hat, who cocked back his neck and with a swig from a bottle, held a torch before his lips, and exhaled a scorching breath of fire, its bright orange hue reflecting off Book's glossed-over eyes. 81 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:56,200 The following morning, unfamiliar with the new apparatus, its loud ring almost gave Nurse Nancy a heart attack as she jumped a foot off her poor old stool. Stumbling about with the receiver, she finally answered, 82 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:19,200 Hilltop State Hospital, may I help you? A faint voice of a telephone operator emitted from its speaker, attempting to inform Nurse Nancy. She was connecting her with the Grandview Police Department. Nurse Nancy listened intently, with eyebrows raised, eyeballs bouncing back and forth, as a deep voice rattled on. Kate could hear the voice as Nurse Nancy responded with an apologetic tone. 83 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:27,200 Yes, Officer, we will send someone along immediately. Yes, Officer, I understand. Thank you. We are very sorry for the inconvenience. 84 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:37,200 Nurse Nancy fumbled again, attempting to hang up the receiver, until Nurse Kate walked over from the paperwork she was filing and hung up the telephone for her, asking what had happened. 85 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:53,200 The police have Big Ben. He went down to the diner again after the blueberry pie. They got him locked up in a cell. They want to know if we want to come down and get him. Otherwise, they said they're sure they can figure out what to do with him. Oh my, said Nurse Kate, but don't worry, I said someone would be right down. 86 00:12:53,200 --> 00:13:10,200 Nurse Kate ran down the hill and took the first train to Grandview Station, and jumped on the Main Street trolley to the jail. As she entered, a husky officer with a thick, sweaty mustache, standing behind a counter, was much entertained to see a petite woman such as Kate had come to pick up such a huge man. 87 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:21,200 Kate could hear Big Ben's crying before she saw his large frame curled into a ball in the back corner of the cage, his massive arms wrapped around his legs, which he had pulled in tight to his broad chest. 88 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:30,200 When Ben saw Kate, he stood up, all seven feet, exposing the blackberry pie that stained his face and shirt. Kate would be ashamed to admit, she almost giggled. 89 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:37,200 Ben, she said with a sigh, you had a whole pie to yourself last night at the circus. Look at the mess you have made of yourself. 90 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:45,200 The officer with a large, sweaty mustache said, Ben, is that what they call this monster? And what is your name, sweetheart? 91 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:57,200 Nurse Kate, I am responsible for Ben. I assure you Ben is harmless and not a monster. I'd like to take him home now if you don't mind. He has been through a lot after all, being locked in a cage like an animal. 92 00:13:57,200 --> 00:14:01,200 This Ben of yours, the officer interrupted with a deep and malicious chuckle. 93 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:07,200 This beast, he said, looking around for a fellow smirk from the other officers distracted with other tasks. 94 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:15,200 He damn near destroyed the diner and scared the daylats out of all the patrons. Lucky he didn't hurt anyone. We might have had to put him down. 95 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:25,200 Kate cleared her throat, attempting to maintain her composure, and responded, Oh my, I am so sorry to hear that. We will pay for all the damages and make sure it never happens again. 96 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:36,200 But I assure you Ben was only after the pie. I am certain he was surely afraid of the commotion. You see, Ben may be a huge man, but he has the mind of a child. 97 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:47,200 Sweetheart, you honestly believe you can wrangle this looking over at Ben and his giant frame. This beast all by your lonesome? 98 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:56,200 Yes, I am in charge of patient transport. With all due respect, ma'am, it took four of our men to get him in that cage. 99 00:14:56,200 --> 00:15:04,200 There is no way I am opening that door until you get a half a dozen of your strongest men down here in a pair of shackles. 100 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:14,200 With all due respect, officer, we do not shackle our patients. He is not a criminal nor a beast as you suggest. He is a man. An ill man. 101 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:25,200 Ill? He is a damned animal. Belongs far off in the wilderness or in a cage at the circus or better yet, put down before he hurts someone, the officer said, slamming his fist on the counter. 102 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:34,200 Ben let out a wail, which attracted the attention of a man in the cell over, sprawled out on his bunk with yellow cowboy boots perched on the bars. 103 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:43,200 The blonde, shaggy-haired man lifted his head in a raspy hungover voice, yelled, keep it the hell down. Can't a man get some shut eye around here? 104 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:50,200 Boy, you better watch your lip, shouted the officer, smacking his baton down on the counter. 105 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:56,200 Kate flinched and Ben let out another moan as he jumped in his skin. 106 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:07,200 One of the other officers approached the mustached officer and gave a whisper to his ear and Kate walked over to the cage saying, Ben, it's okay. I'm here to take you home. Everything will be okay. 107 00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:17,200 You know what comes after dinner tonight, right, Ben? Ben moaned again. What comes after dinner, Ben? P-p-p-pie? Ben replied with a stutter. 108 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:24,200 Kate held her hand outward toward Ben and he responded like a child to a mother and his composure softened. 109 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:34,200 Turning back toward the counter, Kate spoke, as I said, officer, we will pay for the damages and make sure this never happens again. Now may I please take Ben home? 110 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:41,200 Turning back toward Ben, Kate said, Ben, please apologize for the mess you made and then we can go home. 111 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:48,200 And after dinner, we will share a slice of Miss Margaret's pie. Come on now, Ben. Say you are sorry. Go on now, Ben. 112 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:57,200 Ben stuttered with his chin down to his chest in a low, slow voice. I'm sorry. 113 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:05,200 Please, officer, I'd like to take Ben home now. You are out of your goddamn mind. Maybe you spent too much time in that loony bin on the hilltop yourself, lady. 114 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:19,200 Now it ain't my fault if he picks you up and snaps you in two. Yeah? Grabbing the keys off the wall, waddling from out behind the counter, cautiously opening the cell door, making sure to stand behind its bars as Kate led Ben out. 115 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:31,200 Kate held him by the arm and Ben looked up at the officer hiding behind the cage door and gave him a grin, exposing the blackberry seeds in his teeth. The officer said nothing but widened his eyes in fear. 116 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:42,200 And walking out of the front door of the jail, Kate turned back and graciously bid the officer good day in a polite manner. 117 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:50,200 On the Main Street trolley, Big Ben sat ashamed. Kate sighed, his head down, her tiny arm wrapped around his massive bicep. 118 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:57,200 The two of them made an odd couple, her petite frame and his broad chest and purple stained chubby cheeks. 119 00:17:57,200 --> 00:18:03,200 The other passengers looked on in amusement, with a tinge of fear, a few whispering and giggling. 120 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:14,200 But Kate responded as she always had, with the big beautiful smile her mother gave her. 121 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:23,200 During the night shift, a commotion outside the Bronson building grabbed Nurse Nancy's attention as she made her way back to her stool from the ladies room. 122 00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:33,200 As she took a look out the window, Nancy was shocked to see a dozen or so wagons loaded up with good old country boys, a glow in the light of a bonfire. 123 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:42,200 She couldn't believe her eyes and thought to call the police until she noticed the Grandview Police Department in the forefront bearing torches. 124 00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:53,200 Many of the good old boys were howling, drunk, waving torches of their own with angry dogs on chains as one man held a noose just before the doors of the Bronson building. 125 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:59,200 Quickly she ran to her desk, grabbed a key and locked the front door for the first time ever. 126 00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:06,200 There had to have been close to a hundred men and boys, angry, chuckling amongst themselves and shouting obscenities. 127 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:17,200 Nurse Nancy phoned Nurse Kate's residence and awoke her to the news. Kate then fled barefoot to the Thompson building in the dark, where she in turn awoke the doctor in his pajamas. 128 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:23,200 The doctor gave Kate precise instructions, grabbed his coat and marched for the Bronson building. 129 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:35,200 Once he arrived, the violence had increased, rancid slurs thrown along with bottles and rocks through windows, along with a blazing torch intended to burn the place to ash. 130 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:46,200 Dr. Zola marched straight out of the darkness, right through the mob and up the steps where the Commissioner stood next to two officers, including one with a thick sweaty mustache. 131 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:51,200 What is the meaning of this Commissioner? asked the doctor. 132 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:59,200 Why good evening doctor, we know of a certain patient named Ben who escaped today and we are here to take him into our custody for aggravated assault. 133 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:05,200 We are not leaving without him said the Commissioner looking back at his mob. 134 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:10,200 That is just ludicrous. What are you talking about an assault? asked the doctor. 135 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:22,200 Well doctor, a woman was sexually assaulted in her own home near a particular diner that serves pie. A coincidence doctor or shall I say irony? 136 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:28,200 I assure you Commissioner, Ben did not sexually assault anyone. 137 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:39,200 Irony Commissioner is not that we have to protect the community from our patients, but that we find ourselves now having to lock our doors to protect our patients from the community. 138 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:50,200 Who are the madmen? I might ask you Commissioner. Those sleeping peacefully in their beds at this late hour, such as Ben or those prancing around in the dark with torches acting like a lynch mob. 139 00:20:50,200 --> 00:20:59,200 You call this sane behavior Commissioner? Maybe you need a head exam. Shall we make you an appointment? Maybe for your friends as well? 140 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:10,200 The Commissioner looked back at the mob once more asking who these boys? These are the fine upstanding citizens of Grandview carrying out their rightful duty to protect their community. 141 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:14,200 Now let us in or we shall let ourselves in. 142 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:18,200 The two stood eye to eye, neither budging. 143 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:26,200 Well then, said the Commissioner, giving a nod to an axe wielding officer who walked up the steps and approached the door. 144 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:36,200 But just as the officer raised the axe above his head, the door swung wide open from within and there stood Nurse Kate with the candlestick telephone in hand. 145 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:43,200 Grinning from ear to ear in her nightgown. Good evening Commissioner, you have a call. 146 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:52,200 The Commissioner's eyes shrunk into a confused squint. You must think I'm a damn fool woman, said the Commissioner as he grabbed the telephone from her hand. 147 00:21:52,200 --> 00:22:00,200 This is the Commissioner, to who do I speak? Your damn fool could be heard emanating from the telephone speaker for all to hear. 148 00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:06,200 Governor, please let me explain, begged the Commissioner with a slight change in tone. 149 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:17,200 The sight of the Doctor's face must have been priceless as the Commissioner attempted to justify his actions over his stumbling words, over the Governor shouting, hogwash! 150 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:26,200 Kate tried not to giggle and with his head down, the Commissioner tried to hide behind the door, but the rage-filled voice on the other line could be heard by all. 151 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:32,200 The Commissioner nonetheless rattled on. Governor, Governor, I can explain, please sir. 152 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:38,200 As the line went dead, the Commissioner came out from behind the door with a ghostly vacant look in his eyes. 153 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:44,200 Deflated, half the size he had been only moments earlier as he handed the phone back to Kate. 154 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:49,200 And with it, the mammoth amount of power and authority he had thought to bestow. 155 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:58,200 And the Commissioner, with spines sloped inward and a powerless gait, stumbled down the stairs as though his legs were to give out under the weight of humiliation. 156 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:05,200 Now silent, torches in hand, the face of the confused mob was illuminated as they parted way for the Commissioner to pass. 157 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:11,200 We gonna get him or not? A good old boy with one missing tooth asked, breaking the awkward silence. 158 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:15,200 But the Commissioner carried on for his buggy, where his chauffeur awaited. 159 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:22,200 Smacking him on the back of the head, the Commissioner lashed out, shouting, what the hell are you waiting on? Let's go, god damn it! 160 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:31,200 And his henchmen muttered amongst themselves, utterly lost in the darkness as their blunted spearhead disappeared down the hillside. 161 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:39,200 Well who would like to go first? Asked the Doctor as he opened his palm, welcoming anyone willing to be examined into the Bronson building. 162 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:47,200 But the mob slowly backed away and then quickly made its way down the hilltop on the heels of the Commissioner, like a litter of lost puppies. 163 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:52,200 Nurse Nancy walked inside, saying, good lord almighty! 164 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:59,200 And Dr. Zola and Nurse Kate watched in silence as each torch was extinguished by the darkness of the night. 165 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:08,200 Kate looked over at the Doctor, the abandoned bonfire reflecting off his glasses, and she saw the most brilliant grin she had ever laid eyes upon. 166 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,200 The Gravediggers 167 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:25,200 The Gravediggers worked hard in those days, keeping up with the escalating death rate, as tuberculosis was depleting the population of the asylum about as fast as the patients arrived. 168 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:32,200 It was the number one killer, as approximately 95% of the patients carried one form of the disease or another. 169 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:46,200 The wards and the morgue were ceaselessly overflowing, and as each sick patient arrived the TB ward, they were made to first remove their clothes in the decontamination room, and the clothing was then bagged and taken to be burned in the furnace. 170 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:52,200 They were then given a combination of hot baths and cold water showers before being given a set of clothes and a bed. 171 00:24:52,200 --> 00:25:02,200 They were also issued a set of red handkerchiefs, intended to more easily disguise any blood they may cough up. 172 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:21,200 And as not a soul is immune to God's hands of time, Fanny's cheeks flushed over once more, and a fever had arisen, along with a steady cough, only this time it was no ploy. 173 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:28,200 Fanny was truly sick, and she was returned to the TB ward. 174 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:37,200 And this time around, there would be no grand feasts of roast beef with au jus that would fatten her up and bring her back to life. 175 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:42,200 This time, Fanny's health deteriorated rapidly. 176 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:49,200 Book made sure to visit her bedside daily with flowers, and Nurse Kate became her most devoted nurse. 177 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:57,200 I regrettably was too heartbroken and angry to set eyes upon her again. I felt tainted and abandoned. 178 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:09,200 Though for the attendance, it was a touching sight to see Fanny's mysterious dark eyes glow illustrious, as not a nurse came away without a higher regard for their life's calling. 179 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:20,200 In the day that Fanny's troubled spirit was called home, everyone sensed a halo hovering over her deathbed, for she was surrounded with love. 180 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:29,200 As Fanny's coffin was lowered into its grave, Book removed his cap and used his left sleeve and then his right to wipe away the tears. 181 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:36,200 And then Book gave out to that customary whale. 182 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:46,200 But as he walked over to the magnificent graveyard elm and leaned against it, he gave into sobs that convulsed his frame more than ever before. 183 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:53,200 And everyone could see that mighty sorrow, and he walked away from the graveyard elm a different man. 184 00:26:53,200 --> 00:27:00,200 As a part of Book had followed Fanny into the grave, and what was left of his soul retreated within himself. 185 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:14,200 The only exercise he took that day forth was digging graves and continuing to bear witness to every funeral thereafter. 186 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:27,200 Nurse Kate walked into the Bronson building some weeks later, and making her way down the hall to check the schedules, she spotted Jonesy sitting in his wheelchair and pushed back against the wall, where she first saw him so many years before. 187 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:35,200 Jonesy had his head down and was muttering to himself, his fingers drumming upon his kneecap, that usual rhythm. 188 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:43,200 Kate stopped and looked down at him, and Jonesy looked up at her with his distinct, toothless grin and those bright blue eyes. 189 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,200 And then he reached his liver-spotted hand outward, trembling with old age. 190 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,200 She remembered the doctor's warning from her first day on the hilltop, 191 00:27:51,200 --> 00:28:00,200 I wouldn't touch Jonesy if I were you. But Nurse Kate reached out nonetheless, allowing him to place his hand upon hers. 192 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:06,200 And with a raspy laugh, Jonesy with his toothless grin muttered, 193 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:12,200 Tag, you're it. 194 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:17,200 The patient at bat had missed the ball, leaving the crowd booing as he swung out. 195 00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:23,200 The weather was brilliant, a cloudless bright summer day, and everyone was having a good old time, 196 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:28,200 everyone but the poor old donkey that is, looking rather unamused. 197 00:28:28,200 --> 00:28:35,200 The pitcher, a patient named Johnny, self-described as loon as a kook, always wore his pant legs tucked into his socks. 198 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:43,200 But Johnny was a good pitcher, he loved baseball. His breastbone was sunken in, the result of a blow from a baseball in his youth. 199 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,200 His voice was odd, as it affected his speech as he rambled on. 200 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:52,200 I ever tell you a story about that time I walked across the bottom of the Mississippi River all the way to Iowa? 201 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:57,200 I used a perfume bottle automizer filled with air, and I kept breathing that air to keep my oxygen. 202 00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:01,200 I tell you, I ain't no butter and egg man from down home. 203 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:06,200 I'm as loon as a kook, but I can sure play ball and I can work, mostly running errands, 204 00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:11,200 and they give me plenty of cigarettes, but I can pitch a mean ball. 205 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:18,200 Next at bat was a black man named Edward. He was a first baseman, but also a great hitter, never missing a ball. 206 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:23,200 Edward was out of touch with reality most of the time, talking to himself and making odd motions. 207 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:28,200 But whenever he made contact with the ball, it brought him right back to reality. 208 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:36,200 As Johnny tossed the ball into his glove, he stared with a severe gaze down the mound toward Edward, who appeared far off in another realm. 209 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:45,200 But as Johnny pitched the ball down the line, Edward swung the bat, and with a crack, the ball flew into the brilliant blue sky and the crowd cheered. 210 00:29:45,200 --> 00:29:52,200 Maury, the left fielder, an epileptic who often had to take timeouts during the game when he had the occasional seizure, 211 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:56,200 raced alongside Roscoe, who was one of the nurse's favorites. 212 00:29:56,200 --> 00:30:01,200 He played center field, as he was unable to distinguish his right hand from his left. 213 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:09,200 Otherwise, he appeared relatively normal, and everyone assumed he had had a stroke as a boy, as one side of his face was paralyzed. 214 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:14,200 He dragged his left foot as he ran after the ball, trying to catch it before Maury could. 215 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,200 They were always at odds with one another, and the two clumsily collided, letting the ball hit the ground. 216 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:24,200 That one was mine, Roscoe. Watch yourself, Maury. You're gonna seizure again. 217 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:29,200 Yo, jimp, get the hell out of my way next time. God damn it, Roscoe, that one was mine. 218 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,200 Grab the damn ball, then, will you, shithead? 219 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:38,200 Edward dropped the bat and jumped on the back of the donkey, and he managed to ride it for a few feet, 220 00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:43,200 but the donkey wanted no part of it and bucked him off halfway to first base. 221 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,200 Nurse Kate clapped and elbowed Book, saying, 222 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:49,200 Hey, I bet you could really smack that ball, Book. Wanna try? 223 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,200 Book looked down with a sad face. 224 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:55,200 Look, I'll tell you what, if I try, you gotta try. Deal? 225 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:59,200 Book gave Kate a slight grin, and Kate jumped to her feet. 226 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:03,200 She walked up to the plate and picked up the bat, and Johnny pitched the ball. 227 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,200 Nurse Kate gave it a whack, and it bounced across the lawn, 228 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,200 but as she tried to get on the back of the donkey, air ran out from underneath her, 229 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:12,200 and everyone laughed as she hit the ground. 230 00:31:12,200 --> 00:31:17,200 She got up and walked back over to Book with the bat in hand, and held it toward him, saying, 231 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,200 Okay, it's your turn. But Book shook his head no. 232 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:21,200 Deal's a deal. 233 00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:26,200 And the crowd started to chant Book's name until he grinned and grabbed the bat, 234 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,200 and as he waited for the pitch, everyone continued to chant, 235 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,200 and when Book swung, he whacked the ball hard, real hard, 236 00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:38,200 and it flew high over the heads of Murray and Roscoe, who were stunned and blinded by the sun, 237 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:42,200 and Book was startled as well, and everyone clapped and yelled, 238 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:44,200 Run, Book, run! Get on the donkey, Book! 239 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:48,200 Book ran to the donkey and jumped up on its back effortlessly, 240 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,200 and it slowly strolled toward first base, until the stubborn donkey bucked him off, 241 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:54,200 and he fell to the ground as well. 242 00:31:54,200 --> 00:32:00,200 Everyone laughed and hollered and clapped, and Book, rolling back and forth in the grass, chuckled to himself. 243 00:32:00,200 --> 00:32:03,200 It was a lovely sight to see, until something caught his eye. 244 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:07,200 Nurse Kate looked over and saw the hearse passing by, 245 00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:10,200 just as Book jumped to his feet and began to run after him. 246 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,200 Book, wait! But Book kept running. 247 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:17,200 He chased the hearse as his old worn-out cap flew off behind him. 248 00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,200 He ran and ran until his knees wobbled like noodles, 249 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,200 throwing one shoe before the other until his legs gave out, 250 00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:27,200 and he tripped over his own feet, collapsing into the road. 251 00:32:27,200 --> 00:32:30,200 He tried to get back up, but made it no further than his knees, 252 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:35,200 as he began to cough severely, as the hearse faded from view down the bluff. 253 00:32:35,200 --> 00:32:38,200 Book gasped for air, coughing violently, 254 00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,200 when suddenly a lungful of blood splattered to the ground, 255 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,200 just as Nurse Kate ran up to him with his cap in hand. 256 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,200 Book, it's just going to town! 257 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:50,200 Then noticing the blood, she dropped to her own knees beside him, 258 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:52,200 saying with a sigh, 259 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:54,200 Oh, Book. 260 00:33:02,200 --> 00:33:06,200 Dr. Zola was sitting in solitude in the attic of the Bronson 261 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:10,200 when Nurse Kate crept up the stairs, not wanting to disturb him. 262 00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:14,200 There you are, Doctor. Something told me you might be hiding up here. 263 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:20,200 Hiding? This is where all the spirits live. I'm not hiding. I'm communing. 264 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:24,200 It is a bit spooky up here indeed, said Nurse Kate, 265 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:28,200 looking around with a tinge of uneasiness at the dark corners. 266 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:30,200 Dr. Zola then asked, 267 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:34,200 Kate, did you know the limestone blocks used to build this building 268 00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,200 came from the oldest quarry in the country, 269 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:40,200 an ancient quarry on the Mississippi used by the Illini for centuries? 270 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:45,200 I did not, she answered, and that it is believed by many that limestone particularly 271 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,200 has the special properties to carry spiritual energy, 272 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,200 and that the Indians revered the stone for that reason, 273 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:56,200 and that some, in fact, believe the stone itself attracts supernatural activity? 274 00:33:56,200 --> 00:34:00,200 Doctor, I actually need to talk to you about something rather serious. 275 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:05,200 Hey, Book, how are you feeling today? asked Nurse Kate as Book looked up from his bed, 276 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:09,200 looking somewhat afraid, a deep sadness in his eye. 277 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:13,200 And all she could think to do was touch his flushed cheek. 278 00:34:13,200 --> 00:34:18,200 Hello, my friend, said Dr. Zola as he entered a moment later. 279 00:34:18,200 --> 00:34:22,200 Book kept his eyes down in utter humiliation, 280 00:34:19,720 --> 00:34:24,200 strange figure in the distance. 281 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:26,200 He was a man of a few years, 282 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:30,200 and he was a man of a few years of experience. 283 00:34:30,200 --> 00:34:33,200 Book kept his eyes down in utter humiliation, 284 00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:37,200 and for a long moment, all three sat in silence. 285 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:45,200 Until the doctor said, Listen, Book, you've made us all proud here at the hilltop, 286 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:47,200 and this is not easy for me to say, 287 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,200 but now it is my responsibility to relieve you of burial duty. 288 00:34:51,200 --> 00:34:56,200 And now, I'm going to ask you to take some rest. 289 00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,200 Book squirmed uncomfortably at the news, 290 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,200 and a tear rolled down his cheek. 291 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:04,200 Nurse Kate grasped Book's hand, now quivering, 292 00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,200 and Dr. Zola placed his own on top of the tomb, 293 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:11,200 and together as old friends, as family, they wept. 294 00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:16,200 That evening, Nurse Kate pushed Book in his wheelchair to the exchange, 295 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:19,200 where the old clerk placed a few red handkerchiefs on the counter, 296 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:22,200 and with dread, refusing to take possession, 297 00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:26,200 as though the act of touching them was in itself a death sentence. 298 00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:32,200 The clerk wrote in his journal, A Manual Bookbinder, 299 00:35:32,200 --> 00:35:36,200 six red handkerchiefs at five cents each. 300 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:40,200 He then gazed down at the untouched handkerchiefs, saying, 301 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,200 May God bless you, your son. 302 00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:46,200 In the natural order of events, 303 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:50,200 it came Book's turn to be carried to the last resting place. 304 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:53,200 The news spread rapidly that Book had shed his last tear, 305 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:58,200 and through the quick process by which words pass amongst the hilltop, 306 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:03,200 it was agreed that all shall attend his funeral as one. 307 00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:08,200 The hour was set for noon of a beautiful July day, 308 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,200 and Nurse Kate came to the farmhouse, 309 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:13,200 and asked if I would like to accompany her. 310 00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:17,200 Book was my friend, and it was an impressive and heartwarming sight 311 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:20,200 to see the outpouring of love from so many. 312 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,200 More than a hundred nurses stood around the grave, 313 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,200 along with three hundred patients, 314 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:28,200 while Dr. Zola officiated in person. 315 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:33,200 Book's coffin rested upon two crossbeams over the open grave, 316 00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:36,200 and four sturdy men, including Book's fellow gravediggers, 317 00:36:36,200 --> 00:36:38,200 Hank and Charlie, 318 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,200 stood ready to man the ropes which the coffin, 319 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:44,200 a simple pine box, would be lowered. 320 00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:47,200 At the doctor's nod, the men grasped the ropes, 321 00:36:47,200 --> 00:36:51,200 stooped forward, and with a great muscular effort, heaved away. 322 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:55,200 And in an instant, all four men laid flat on their backs, 323 00:36:55,200 --> 00:36:59,200 as the coffin soared into the air as if it were empty. 324 00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:03,200 The nurses shrieked, and a wailing voice was heard amid the commotion, 325 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:06,200 and every eye turned toward the graveyard elm 326 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,200 from where it had emanated. 327 00:37:10,200 --> 00:37:16,200 Every man and woman stood transfixed, for there stood Book before all, 328 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:22,200 weeping with a sorrowful intensity that out-rivaled anything he had ever shown before. 329 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,200 I stood frozen with shock at the sight, though it could not be mistaken. 330 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,200 It was the same old Book, the same old cloth cap, 331 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:32,200 the same old handkerchief around his neck, 332 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:36,200 the same demeanor with which everyone was familiar, 333 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:40,200 every nurse who was at his bedside when he was sick and dying, 334 00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,200 the undertaker who had embalmed his body, 335 00:37:43,200 --> 00:37:46,200 the pallbearers who had carried the heavy coffin from the hearse 336 00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,200 and placed it over the grave. 337 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:54,200 Everyone watched as there, in plain sight, in broad daylight, 338 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:58,200 stood Old Book. 339 00:37:58,200 --> 00:38:05,200 No one moved, no one spoke, as a paralytic fear overcame everyone. 340 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,200 Quick, open the coffin, ordered Dr. Zola, 341 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:12,200 and Hank's hand trembled as he loosened the screws of the lid. 342 00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:16,200 I stepped forward, as did many, and just as the lid was lifted, 343 00:38:16,200 --> 00:38:22,200 the wailing ceased, and there he lay, Bookbinder, cold in death, 344 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,200 his calm hands folded across his chest, 345 00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:29,200 and every wandering eye back over to the graveyard elm, 346 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,200 at the leaves whispering in the breeze. 347 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:40,200 Following the funeral, Dr. Zola returned to his office, 348 00:38:40,200 --> 00:38:43,200 where he wrote in his journal, 349 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:47,200 Now that Book is in the hands of God, 350 00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:50,200 will these memories that haunt me perish as well, 351 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:54,200 or will they continue to haunt for a hundred years from now, 352 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,200 long after he is gone and forgotten? 353 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,200 I returned home confounded and perplexed. 354 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:17,200 I plopped down on the front steps, dropping my chin in my palms, 355 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,200 and chewed on my bottom lip. 356 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:25,200 I sat in stillness, shaking the head, shaking the hands, 357 00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:29,200 slapping the face, pulling the hair, sticking the tongue, 358 00:39:29,200 --> 00:39:32,200 shaking the finger, clapping the hands, hugging the self, 359 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,200 singing to the self, crying, lying, and laughing. 360 00:39:36,200 --> 00:39:42,200 I sat in silence, the soles of my shiny black shoes, 361 00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:45,200 together in prayer. 362 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:50,200 I watched as the patients in the distance plucked the petals off the flowers one by one, 363 00:39:50,200 --> 00:39:57,200 and the breeze blew, ruffling a crow's feathers as it lurked about in search of a worm on the lawn before me. 364 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:03,200 Our eyes met, mine bright and hazel, his the dark night of the soul. 365 00:40:03,200 --> 00:40:06,200 I thought to split his tongue as I asked, 366 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:10,200 What's to be saying in the garden of madness? 367 00:40:10,200 --> 00:40:15,200 But Sam, you snapped a photo of me with your one dollar brownie camera, 368 00:40:15,200 --> 00:40:18,200 and the crow flew away without a word ever spoken, 369 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:24,200 only written on paper in a world consumed by fire. 370 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:32,200 I awoke to a loud clap of thunder on a sunny day, 371 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:35,200 and a breeze blowing through the curtain whispering in my ear, 372 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,200 laying upon my cool mattress, 373 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:43,200 legs crossed, eyes shut, I simply listened to the beat of my heart, 374 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:48,200 as the lonely cat's cry of the night had been replaced by songbirds, 375 00:40:48,200 --> 00:40:54,200 as the rooster's crow, a barking dog, and from afar the whistle of a train. 376 00:40:54,200 --> 00:40:59,200 I thought of days when the squeaking brakes of trucks delivered warm bread across the helltop, 377 00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:02,200 but in time came a deafening silence, 378 00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:05,200 a loneliness of unparalleled solitude. 379 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:10,200 But I'd come to accept my fate, my endless hunger, 380 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:14,200 as I inhaled all I knew of the world around me, 381 00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,200 and exhaling I let it all go, 382 00:41:17,200 --> 00:41:22,200 and when I opened my eyes to see the spider in the corner drop down not once, 383 00:41:22,200 --> 00:41:28,200 but three times, I knew I'd die in the same old farmhouse I was born. 384 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:33,200 I stood and walked to the window, and just as I had over the years, 385 00:41:33,200 --> 00:41:36,200 I watched the honking geese on their great migration, 386 00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:39,200 as the dear old river flows onward, 387 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:44,200 never revealing the reasons it swallowed whom or what it had, 388 00:41:44,200 --> 00:41:47,200 carrying secrets off to the sea. 389 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:52,200 And now as I pop the cap and spill the whole damn bottle down my throat, 390 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:59,200 red ones round, I look out across the hilltop for the graveyard elm, 391 00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:11,200 and I know, Sam, swooping down upon the bluff will always blow a wild wind, 392 00:42:11,200 --> 00:42:30,200 for the beginning is but the end. 393 00:42:41,200 --> 00:43:03,200 Music 394 00:43:03,200 --> 00:43:31,200 Yelling