A FOOTPRINT...
ONLY IN SUCH A DESOLATE PLACE COULD SOMEONE BEGIN TO BELIEVE THEY ARE THE FIRST TO LEAVE THEIRS.
SPADE! how we doin’ CARL?
jack, we’ve been looking all over for you...
actually , there isn’t any. in fact its quite the opposite...
late night, you know how it goes. what’s the good news?
i’ve been going over these numbers, and well, they don’t look good jack. oh yeah?
YEAH, the money is gone, we’ve been here too long. tell me about it.
jack, without the grant money NONE of these men will be getting paid... you or i... no one is getting paid.
we are NOT leaving until we get PAID. and we DON’T get PAID until we FIND something!
let me tell YOU something CARL...
so i suggest we START DIGGING.
YOU HEAR THAT BOYS!? NOBODY’S GOING HOME UNTIL WE’RE ALL RICH!
it’s going to be a long day.
THE WORLD TODAY IS COVERED WITH BILLIONS OF PEOPLE LEAVING THEIR MARK IN THE SAND EVERYDAY.
jack?
IT’S UNREALISTIC TO BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE FIRST, AND EVEN MORE UNBELIEVABLE TO THINK THAT YOU MAY BE THE LAST.
AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH, IN SEEMINGLY UNINHABITABLE TERRITORY...
IT ISN’T THE DESIRE TO STAND WHERE NO MAN HAS STOOD BEFORE THAT MOTIVATES THESE MEN.
BUT JUST THE OPPOSITE.
YEARS OF RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION HAVE LED MANY MEN TO THIS DESERT TIME AND TIME BEFORE.
THEir DISCOVERIES HAVE BEEN SLIGHT, JUST PIECES TO THE BIG PICTURE...
PIECES TO THE MOST AMAZING PUZZLE.
THE DEEPER WE DIG TO UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF OUR PAST THE MORE LIGHT WE CAN SHED ON OUR PRESENT, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY... OUR FUTURE. SOMETIMES THE WEIGHT OF TIME BEARS DOWN ON US...
AND WE BEGIN TO LOSE HOPE.
FOR ONLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THINGS ARE FOUND AFTER ALL HOPE IS LOST.
here we go DUDE. now remember what we talked about... we’re gonna look both ways, and -
nathan... it’s adrianna.
nathan, wake up.
you’re having a nightmare.
do not stand at my grave and weep... i am not there, i do not sleep.
i am a thousand winds that blow. i am the ivy that rises to grow. i am the falling rain.
when you awaken in the morning’s hush, i am the swift uprising rush...
i am the soft star left to shine.
to last for all of time...
do not stand at my grave and cry. for i am not there... ...i did not die.
do not be sad. do not regret. nicole would want us all to remember.
as we leave here today...
even those who seem to be gone stay with you as long as you remember them.
we could never forget...
sleep well mrs. burling.
hey! you ok?
we fell asleep...
we...
I... was sleeping...
you had a nightmare. but you’re awake now, it’s OVER.
right? nathan.
...you’re ok.
nathan...
YEAH. yeah. im fine, i just need to go get some COFFEE.
whatever it is. you can’t avoid it forever... if you want to talk...
just come back, come lay down...
it’s ok.
...i’ll make you breakfast in the morning?
...i don’t have ANY food...
you have frozen pizza.
haha... are you ok? yeah...
are you... you’re breathing so heavy...
I... so are you.
a couple weeks after the exhibit opening, i couldn’t understand why you hadn’t responded to my letters... gloria... she told me you were married once. i was... she told me NICOLE is the reason your paintings are in the museum...
nicole... she used to take my STUFF right off the wall...
sometimes before the PAINT was even dry. one after the next, my paintings just kept disappearing.
hahaha... for months she did this.
gloria told me she was really great... she said she could never understand why things happen the way they do... and to who they do... i’m so sorry nathan. i can’t even imagine...
when nicole was in the hospital, i spent every moment WONDERING what it would be like to LOSE her. you’re expected to not have thoughts like that... people kept saying, just HANG ON, she’s a fighter, she will beat this, everyone except for the doctors. they told me i should start preparing myself... then, when she died... when i what would did lose her, I FOUND that do to ME? OUT. i’ve spent every losing nicole, how moment since THAT day would i feel? making sure i NEVER felt that again.
... living with that pain, that loneliness, somedays- some NIGHTS i almost couldn’t handle it. whenever i would pick up a pen or a brush all these memories would come FLOODING back.
...some kind of bad joke, reminding me of HAPPINESS,
teasing me of a life i would never have again, because i ALWAYS woke up alone, i ALWAYS woke up, and she NEVER would.
and then i met you adrianna, it’s not something i meant for, or was EVEN looking for, but i met you. and i’m glad that i did. what i feel for you is something i NEVER thought i could feel again and that’s why i’m here. i’ve realized that THINGS JUST happen, and they aren’t always your fault, but somehow you end up paying for it... i’ve learned the ONLY thing i REALLY have a say in is how i handle it when those things happen to me. that is why i’m telling you this, that is why i’m here... i want you in my life adrianna... i don’t know if that’s something you want...
i began to get SO caught up in you.for the FIRST time, i wasn’t thinking about what could happen.
i wasn’t protecting myself because you WERE. you told me to come back to bed, and that i’d be ok... and i was... and i slept... and i woke up HAPPY.
nathan, why do you think i’m sitting here, listening to you? why do you think i’ve written you everyday for the past four months. except for sundays.
no, i wrote you on sundays, and just CONTINUED them for the mail first thing on monday morning... shut up. haha.
i thought i was afraid of commitment too. i was afraid of getting OLD i guess, and settling on ONE person.
i was afraid i was closing myself off, kind of like taking a seat and just PARKING it for the rest of TIME, while the world moves on without me.... but it wasn’t like that, and you showed me, it wasn’t about parking it and settling... it was about who i wanted to continue down that TIMELINE with.
i don’t know what’s down the line for me... but i’d like to find out with you by my side. i WANT to be with YOU.
well i mean, we are... WITH each other... i’m sitting here, two inches away from you...
i... i love YOU too.
i LOVE you nathan.
so what now? stop PLANNING so much!
oh, LISTEN to you now... all we can REALLY do is live everyday ONE day at a time... and know that when we go to SLEEP at night it all went exactly the way it was SUPPOSED to. i guess we have got to stop TRYING to control the course of things, because we can’t. we’re back HERE on these SAME docks because we’re supposed to be. lets let someone else DRIVE for a little while...
you mean?
all i know is the TIDES will still come in and go out, and the SUN will still rise and set at night... you can’t change that, so why try and change anything else... JUST LIVE.
haha, who knows, maybe...
i think you got THAT from another CARTOON...
want to get out of here?
and go where?
anywhere, STOP planning so much...
definitely, but i STILL think you stole it from something else. oh really? yeah, i’m just saying check it out, do some leg work or something before you PUBLISH your next bOOK.
no no... that WAS an original. why? should i write it down? was it that good?
alright funny guy...
ohhh NATHAN... i missed you.
CHAPTER
well, what do you think is going on HERE?
hard to say...
how about this one?