All Quotes

"Tom: Then how was your first day at school?"

"Anna: The children didn't have much enthusiasm."

"Tom: None of us do."

"Anna: They explained that to me."

"Tom: You live here a while and you'll get the idea."

"Anna: That's encouraging. Then how's the sheriff business?"

"Tom: This sheriff nonsense is strictly a temporary gig. I'm very close to a big position with a multinational corporation."

"Anna: What have they done?"

"Tom: All kinds of stuff, I hope so. I haven't settled on a corporation yet. I'm just narrowing down the list. One of them has offices in Africa. I'd go on safari on my days off."

"Anna: Sounds emotional."

"[Tom shrugs his shoulders]"

"Tom: A man has to dream."

"[Anna sighs heavily]"

"Anna: I wish I could get the children to dream."

"Cookie: If anyone could, I'd put my money on you."

"[Anna nods a thank-you to Cookie. Then she does her water and puts the bottle on the bar]"

"Anna: Well, I'm back on the road."

"[Tom calls after her]"

"Tom: Perhaps we could do something together sometime?"

"Anna: Do you run?"

"[Everyone in the room turns and looks at Tom]"

"Tom: Sure, I run. I mean, I used to run. It's not like you forget how."

"Anna: Then we'll run together. [Then she is out the door and gone]"

"Tom: Yes. We'll run together. Sure."

"[The following morning, Anna stands in front of the classroom holding an old globe. She has just announced to the class that they will be having a lesson in geography. She is surprised that the children have no reaction to the announcement. Not a clap. Not a moan. Nothing. They just stare blankly at her with bored expressions. That is as if even moaning is too much of an effort for them]"

"Anna: Kate, will you come show the class where Columbus first landed in the New World?"

"Kate: You mean, get up?"

"Anna: Yes."

"Kate: I don't get up. For anybody."

"[Just then, the classroom door opens and Bomma enters, her hands around the shoulders of a young boy. Kate, Sophia and Polly recognize the boy immediately as the one Kate's dad shoves at the gas station the day before]"

"Bomma: Class, I'd like you to meet Juan Morales. He's new in town, and he's joining your class."

"Larry: Pull up a cot and get a pillow. We're in the middle of geology."

"Anna: Geography."

"Larry: Whatever."

"[Anna sighs heavily. No matter how hard she tries, nothing seems to work. It is more than outrageous. It is mournful. These children have given up on life before they've even had a chance to live it]"

"Anna: Let's everyone please focus their attention. Juan, we are studying world geography."

"Nick: She's studying world geography. We're bored out of our minds."

"[For Anna, that is the last straw. She frustratingly snaps the globe out of its holder and holds it up in front of the class]"

"Anna: Will someone warn me what's wrong with this globe?"

"Polly: You just broke it?"

"Anna: No. It's outdated. Times have changed. Many countries in the world are no longer the same."

"Jeffrey: Texas is yet Texas."

"Anna: There's more to this world than Texas."

"Kate: Not from where I sit. [This makes Sophia and Polly chortle]"

"[Anna lets the globe drop, but before it hits the floor, she flips it back up with her foot. Then she bounces it from her left knee to her right knee, then back again. Next, she sends the globe up into the air, bounces it twice off her forehead, but lets it fall to her foot, kicks it up and back over her shoulder and then kicks it straight back. The globe hits against the blackboard and then ricochets into a wastepaper basket that stands next to Anna's desk]"

"[The children all watch this in stunned silence]"

"Larry: Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Anna: Prison."

"All: What the?!"

"Anna: That was a joke. I learned how to do that at school in England. Which is another country, far from Texas."