Movieland

Chapter 13

I faded and fell, tuning in and out.

I went to It's a Wonderful Life. Rear Window. Vertigo. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. How the West Was Won. Singin' in the Rain. The Bodyguard. The Untouchables. The Score. Rounders. Good Will Hunting. Mallrats. The Rock. National Treasure. Inglorious Basterds. Ocean's Eleven. Interstellar. Inception. 500 Days of Summer. Elf. Wedding Crashers. Pulp Fiction.

I tuned.

Airheads. Encino Man. Class Act. House Party. Bad Boys. Risky Business. Tropic Thunder. Collateral. Baby Driver. Bridesmaids. Pitch Perfect. The Hunger Games. Zombieland. The Social Network. The Amazing Spider-Man. Forrest Gump. Apollo 13. Tremors. Sweet Home Alabama. Walk the Line. Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Terminator. Aliens. The Cabin in the Woods.

I tuned.

A Nightmare on Elm Street. Pirates of the Caribbean. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The Goonies. Planet Terror. Armageddon. Big Daddy. Billy Madison. Get Out. The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Superbad. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Death Proof. Escape from New York. Halloween. Trading Places. Ghostbusters. Stripes. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. A Few Good Men. G.I. Jane. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The Good Son. Home Alone.

I couldn't stop. And didn't want to.

Remember the Titans. The Notebook. Mean Girls. Freaky Friday. True Lies. Twins. Matilda. Class Act. House Party. Bad Boys. Men in Black. No Country For Old Men. Skyfall. Knives Out. Inside Man. Virtuosity. Gladiator. The Village. Avatar. Star Trek. Shaun of the Dead. Underworld. Tron: Legacy. Booksmart. Easy A. La La Land. Drive. Ex Machina. The Last Jedi. Return of the Jedi.

I let it run through me.

Footloose. The Lost Boys. Stand by Me. Flatliners. Lake Placid. Independence Day. The Fly. Beetlejuice. Batman. L.A. Confidential. Gladiator. Unbreakable. The Fifth Element. Zoolander. Stranger Than Fiction. Love Actually. Taken. X-Men. The Prestige. The Dark Knight. 28 Days Later. In Bruges. S.W.A.T. Fast and the Furious. Varsity Blues. Anaconda. Maid in Manhattan. Dazed and Confused. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Scream. The Wedding Singer. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Waiting. The Count of Monte Cristo. Memento. Risky Business. The Thing. License to Drive. Silver Bullet. Point Break. Dirty Dancing. Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Howard the Duck. Back to the Future. Titanic. The Holiday. School of Rock. Say Anything. PCU. Iron Man. The Incredible Hulk. Iron Man 2. Thor. Captain America: The First Avenger. Marvel's The Avengers. Iron Man 3. Thor: Dark World. Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Guardians of the Galaxy. Avengers: Age of Ultron. Ant-Man. Captain America: Civil War. Doctor Strange. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Spider-Man: Homecoming. Thor: Ragnarök. Black Panther. Avengers: Infinity War. Ant-Man and the Wasp. Captain Marvel. Avengers: Endgame. Spider-Man: Far From Home. Swingers. Office Space. Platoon. Major League. Young Guns. The Mighty Ducks. Con Air. Total Recall. Beverly Hills Cop. The Santa Clause. Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Bloodsport. Last Action Hero. The Golden Child.

Every opening credit played at the same time, a thousand trumpets signaling my never-ending journey.

Max.

The woman in black is back. She desperately tries to dress like her adoptive father. It's a sickening sadness.

Words drip from her mouth like torture. "I didn't actually grow up in Boulder. I'm from around here. It's a fun story to tell people. I like it more than the truth."

Pay attention.

In the next room, a striped creature slithers.

Across from that, a demon.

"She's staring off again," the woman in black says. "How frequent are the bouts?"

The nurse is kind. She takes a tender pulse. Everyone else pokes and prods and "pushes forward for the mission."

The nurse says, "Every hour, sometimes every few minutes. Is there a way to disconnect?"

The woman in black dismisses the nurse with a leather gloved hand.

The woman in black smells of spilled ink.

The woman in black leans in closely and whispers, "You're thinking about me. I can see it in your eyes. Wherever you are, listen and listen well: We have found him. And your time on the run is coming to an end."

I woke up refreshed, yawned, and ate a bowl of cereal, trying to remember who played Buffy's boyfriend when it hit me:

Frankie.