Catherine Ryan Hyde

I think some people are too scared, or something. I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they're bad - to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses.

What did you ever do to change the world?

Is the world just shit? I don't care about the grade.I just want to see if the world would really change.

Are you saying you'll flunk us if we don't change the world?

Yeah. You're my teacher. They pay you to.

I know what I'm talking about, Arlene! My father got down on his knees and begged my mother. And my mother,s he always took him back. I never understood it. she'd cover up the bruises and the cuts and she'd take him back. Because he begged and he cried. And now you ask me, you ask me what happened after he came back.

Not for long. By 13 I was gone. i ran away. But I missed her so… I had to go back and see her. So one night I did. Now, ask me what happened. What happened that night you came back, Eugene?

He was there. Drunk. As usual. Only this time I wasn't the same. I was 16 years old and I was no longer afraid of him. And when I looked him in the eyes and told him if he ever touched her again I would kill him, he knew. He knew that he would never exist for me again. And I'm standing in front of the house. I'm yelling, screaming for her to come out. I'm telling her she doesn't have to take it anymore. She really doesn't. She can come with me now. I don't even see it. He hits me in the side of the head with a two-by-four and I'm bleeding from my ear. And then he's dragging me. He's dragging me behind the house into the garage. And then he's gone. A minute… five minutes… I don't know. And then he's back. And he's wetting me down. He's wetting me down and I don't understand. I don't understand why water… should smell so bad. I don't understand. And then I see it. I see… this… this gas can. This red gas can from his truck.

And he looks at me one last time… and he lights a match. And the last thing I remember, I'll never forget it, were his eyes. His eyes because they were filled with this immense… satisfaction.

Arlene, I don't want to be one of those people he's talking about. And I've become one. I don't want to spend another second of wasted air. Please, don't make me stay trapped in here forever.

OK. You know, I'm going to have to consult my spirit guides here, because you tell me that Trevor is withholding from you, but you won't tell me anything specific and you still want me to sit here and divine why.