I'm going up.
Yes, of course.
No milk for the cat, please.
The veterinarian was quite specific.
No.
I'm sorry.
What is it?
Tomorrow, I was thinking...
maybe we might get away.
After breakfast, we could...
take a drive.
A drive?
Mm.
My Saturdays are my own. You know that.
Besides, we don't take drives, do we?
Maybe we should start.
Explore again.
Explore?
Yes.
I have lectures to write, plants to water, errands.
Besides, I don't know what we need to explore.
A student who remembered
I once mentioned Baritone Bay sent it.
The entire area is to be developed into vacation homes.
Bulldozers will arrive by the end of the month.
They've never been discovered, Celice.
Will you at least think about it?
Thank you, darling.
We'll take a couple more, too.
Mmm-mmm-Miss! I'm still missing my salad!
Take your fucking hand off me!
I want to speak with your manager, immediately.
Lady at table four wants to see you.
Why is that?
I don't know.
Maybe she wants to compliment my great service.
You better hope that's fucking why.
Lots of tables?
What?
I'm just wondering if you're busy, you know?
Out there.
You got lots of dishes?
Yeah.
Where do you think those fucking dishes are coming from?
All right.
Now you go and get a salad,
and you take it to your customer.
Small Caesar dressing on the side!
In case you forgot,
you're on thin fuckin' ice with me already!
That right?
Do it now!
I've seen girls come through here just like you
on their way to the bottom.
And the next time I see them,
it's always in some dive-fuckin' titty bar.
Matt! You're burning that steak!
Goddamn it!
You've been working on this thing for 40 minutes!
A grill that's not as hot and just do it slow.
Don't you fucking dare!
What is this?
Oh, your suppository.
Chilled. Shit.
Here. Why don't you jack-off in it?
Sorry.
I can't.
I've never asked for much. You know that, Celice.
We have a reason to go there now.
If they truly can't exist nowhere else on Earth,
as we once imagined,
then this development will destroy their habitat.
Extinction, Celice. Extinction.
Then, if not for them...
for us.
Please.
I'll go make some breakfast.
Regina. Hey, listen.
Have you spoke to either Joseph or Celice
in the last couple days?
No. Why do you ask, Mark?
Joseph missed his lab on Monday, right?
And then Celice never show up yesterday
to make copies of handouts for today's lecture.
You know she never misses a lecture.
No matter want.
And especially she will have to skip this one.
This is the day she's scheduled
to show her research to the class.
You know how important she views this lecture each semester.
Projector slides?
Yes, yes, all set up. I set up everything.
I'll take her lecture.
You sure?
Yeah.
Good afternoon.
Dr. Adkins could not be here today, and so you have me.
I'm familiar with what she intended
to speak to you about today, enough, I hope,
to do justice to what the photographs
on this carousel of slides
have contributed to the body of science.
After her postdoctoral research into decomposition,
Dr. Adkins was asked by the FBI
to help put away a serial killer by disproving his alibi.
They gave her a cadaver from a medical school
and asked her to determine precisely how long it would take
a human body with open wounds,
left seaside to arrive at the condition
the killer's most recent victim was discovered.
Her exacting documentation of all she observed
constitute a front row seat into an extraordinary
and surprising procession of living things.
So...
shall we begin?
You're here!
I know!
I was getting worried!
I was waiting for you. How are you?
I'm fine, but I missed that fucking train last night!
You did?
Yeah, and it took me forever to find a taxi
that was willing to bring me out this far.
Do you know when the university told us
that this place was in the middle of nowhere,
they were not kidding.
Yeah. It took me forever to get here, too.
Okay, um...
You see that?
Yeah.
I claimed it.
For us.
So how's it shower?
The shower?
Well, it doesn't have running water,
but I already found a way how we can heat it up and..
- Festa, I'm kidding.
It's perfect.
- You mean? - It is.
Yes, I do.
And the best thing is, without having to go in there.
So what do we have in there?
Just boys.
Isn't there four of them to just us, right?
Yeah.
And three of them are idiots. Come have a look.
I'll tell you what. Let's meet them first.
And then I want to see this place that you have for us.
Yeah, and so we're at this bar, right?
And this guy just comes out and they're-
- No, no, no. It..
So, she didn't abandon you like I said.
This must be "seh-sill."
Celice.
This is Roger, Patrick.
- Hi. - Brian.
- Hello, Celice. - Hey.
Now we're complete.
And what's that supposed to mean?
That we're all accounted for, now that you're here.
And our dark and damp study house
can be properly primed
with six weeks of alcohol consumption.
You want a shot?
No, thank you.
We're here for our research,
- not to get drunk. - Oh.
Aren't we entitled on our first day to kick it off?
Well, she said no, so...
A no is a no.
Okay. All right.
Well, more for us, right guys, then?
I thought there was supposed to be
another one of you here.
Joseph, our bookworm.
He's probably out somewhere
taking inventory on his field bag,
counting his sample sacks.
Come on.
We won't hold it against you
if you decide it's a bit too rough out there
and want your room back upstairs.
What?
I got fired.
Fucking again?
Was it worth it?
Yep.
Totally.
She kind of reminded me of my mother.
The bitch didn't like my salad.
Hey.
Got word about this guy a couple months ago.
He's been making the rounds.
He's looking for pigeons to pluck.
He can play.
Even better than you.
I doubt it.
Stay the fuck away from him. You understand?
Come on, Frankie. You always underestimate me.
No.
You overestimate how much of a bad ass you think you are.
No I don't.
Yes you do.
You fucking do, Syl!
You make shitty choices,
like getting fired when you don't have a pot to piss in.
That is exactly why I need to go to him
and get some cash, so I don't lose my place in a week.
Lose it.
Come and stay with me like I've been saying
Sam!
Fuck!
Hey! Hey!
Pick up my stool! Wipe off your face!
I already told you to knock it off once!
Do I need to tell you again?
Want a game?
Thanks, I'm...
Just...
you know...
messin' around.
A hundred dollars.
Problem is, see...
I never play for less than 300.
- Got a minute? - Not really.
Fine. 300.
You got 300?
I won't need it.
And if you do?
Go ahead, young lady.
I'll be here.
You know, how about a shot for me and this old man?
How nice. In that case, I'll have a bourbon.
That good Kentucky kind. If you have it.
Don't do this.
I already am.
Rack?
Well I would, but I only see 100.
Oh, don't you worry. I'll cover the rest.
I don't want your money.
You win, it's yours.
And what if it goes the other way?
Money's yours.
You keep it.
Then what's in it for you?
I think you know.
Aren't I a little young for you?
Oh, I don't think so.
No harm.
Look, if you want a scurry back to your barmaid friend...
What's your name?
Eddy.
Do you mind if I break, Eddy?
Of course not. I'm a gentlemen.
Who would have thought around this time that
perhaps it would have been a little warmer today.
Yeah, yeah.
Ta-da!
Ta-da indeed.
Ah, that's him. Joseph.
He just dropped something.
I'm gonna go and meet him. I'll be right back.
No, you can meet him later. Please?
I'll be just a minute. Promise.
I'll be right there.
Hey!
"Earth in beauty dressed. Yeats"
Thank you.
It's Joseph, right?
Yes.
What are you here to research?
Um...
It's that strange?
Perhaps.
I might have stumbled on something
that demands my focus more than what I came for.
And what might that be?
I'm not sure yet, um...
Not quite.
I think you're supposed to ask me now
what my research is on.
Yes. Of course.
Sternula albifrons.
Close relation to the Forster tern.
I see.
And specifically?
To see if I can learn how to help
slow their decline toward extinction.
These scarce birds have fragile nesting habits,
and they are notoriously selective in their choice of mates.
Well, um...
thank you.
Why Yeats?
I'm sorry?
It's just a little unusual to find a scientist
fond of poetry, especially Yeats.
Oh. Um...
I don't know.
I suppose he explains to me the working of things...
in ways I otherwise wouldn't see.
Hey!
Hey.
What are you two talking about?
I was just telling Joseph here
about my terns and how fragile they seem to be.
Did you tell him already how we met?
I don't believe that Joseph
would even be interested in that.
Joseph?
Oh, sure.
So we met three years ago. Yeah.
It was three yeas ago.
I had just moved here, and I went to a rock concert,
and there was this guy, and he gave me a beer,
And I took it.
Very stupid.
And then I just felt really dizzy,
and everything was moving so slow.
I got really scared.
And then I actually can't remember much, but,
and anyway, must have spiked with LSD or something.
And the next thing I can remember is her outside,
just her cold, cold hands on me.
And how concerned that you'd never see the ocean again.
- Oh yeah. - Do you remember that?
Yeah, I remember that.
Have you ever tried LSD, Joseph?
No.
Oh.
Although, I wouldn't mind trying it once.
Nice meeting you.
Now, I want to see this place
- that you have for us. - Yeah!
Learning German.
House.
"how-tuh?"
It's "huh-tuh."
"Huh-tuh?"
"huh-tuh."
Yeah. Really good.
By the way, I have something for you.
So this belonged to my father,
and he got it from my grandfather,
and before my father got polio,
he and my grandfather would go to the woods every Sunday.
And since I'm not using it for underwater,
I think you should have it.
Your father's?
Yeah.
Can I have a look to see?
Of course.
Such a shame.
500!
I once was you, you know.
If it was there and I wanted it, I fucking took it.
Or I tried.
If I got in a tight spot, I let some guy fuck me,
and I'd get out of it.
Until even that didn't work anymore.
Hey.
And it cost me.
Syl?
Yeah.
Have you hurt enough yet?
So...
day one, hour one,
it took only five minutes for the first visitor to arrive.
It was the beetle. Clauditus maximi.
When hyenas devoured their prey,
they fight amongst themselves for every morsel.
Not true with insects.
They all have purpose and gladly share.
In just under an hour,
she counted fully 13 different species.
They all came out of instinct to feed.
Swag flies.
Crabs.
And once warmed up, gulls arrived in force.
By the time night came, at the end of the first day...
she had watched her corpse, nearly burst
from the methane trapped inside.
I sent her a birthday gift.
Teeth.
Teeth?
Hers.
I saved them.
And you think she'll appreciate something
smacking of sentimentality?
Well, we don't really know her anymore, but I...
I like to think she may.
Do you remember when she was about seven or eight,
how she'd go through the books in my study
and look for pictures of fossils,
how she'd give them funny names?
And there was...
there was one that she always insisted on showing us.
Spooky Bones.
I said in the birthday note that you wished her well.
Do you think she cares?
Maybe.
I don't know with any certainty anything about her.
Because of me.
No, no.
You were a fine mother, Celice...
I most assuredly was not, and you know it.
I made mistakes as well.
A few.
You don't understand the things I said to her.
Unforgivable things meant to inflict maximum damage.
The strange part is...
I hated it as it was happening.
Could you pass the jam, honey?
Thank you.
You didn't say you're welcome.
She did.
What time did you come back last night?
I don't know.
Late.
Why?
I saw you walking out of the park, carrying your shoes.
It was three o'clock in the morning.
Two years ago, it was a month
before they found Jenna's daughter,
or what was left of her, in those woods.
The man who raped and murdered her
left her there in a ditch.
What's your point?
Walk around it...
after dark.
It was me. I drove her away.
She had to go.
How did you find her?
She sent me a postcard last year.
She may not still be at the same address, but I...
I sent the teeth anyway, just in case.
Things can be mended with her.
I seriously doubt that.
My dearest Syl...
Isn't an extraordinary how these were a part of us
for such a brief time before becoming miniature fossils?
I tried my best to dry your tears
with the loss of each one that hurt.
happy birthday.
From the both of us.
What are they?
Two of them actually landed on me yesterday.
I believe they like our warmth.
What family?
likely the Velia genus
An undocumented species.
Sorry?
Undiscovered.
There's a high probability they perhaps exist here only.
I imagine some...
combination of winds and tides could play a role.
Or some food source they need found nowhere but here.
Way out here.
They clearly know how to avoid human beings.
The research will be astonishing.
Every day, a new discovery about them.
It's fantastic, Joseph. You should be pleased.
I'm sorry?
Your discovery.
Their entire lives, most scientists
never get the opportunity that you have.
I think it's wonderful for you.
But I was hoping we might share it.
I'm certain your birds
are absolutely worth your full attention,
and I don't expect an answer immediately, of course.
Take your time. Please.
Sounded like breath being exhaled.
Rather you didn't.
I'll crack a fucking window.
Still, kind of prefer you held off.
I'm just trying to quit is all.
Some lady at a farmer's market or something
told me to chew on licorice sticks.
I don't think it's working,
because I still want to fucking smoke.
What's on Franklin Street?
What's it to you?
You're right. None of my business.
No shit.
Dark brought rats.
Living near the beach, human carrion for them was rare.
[Projector Clicking
Rain was the only thing that prevented them
from making more of a dent.
Since a deceased body is relatively porous,
it naturally filled up and became more or less...
a leather water bag.
Skin became piebald.
Anyone else?
Death can be hard to look at.
But it's the price we pay for being multi-celled.
Thank you.
The fare was only 20.
Yeah, but you brakes sound like shit.
You should fix those.
Are these your business cards?
Mm-hm.
They look like paper bags.
Fuck, fuck.
Fuck.
Uh, hello?
Hey, do you know anything about locks?
What do you mean "do I know anything about locks?"
How to fucking drill them out.
You live here?
I did.
Who does now?
My parents.
And they'd be all right with this?
Please just open the fucker, okay?
You sure?
Because, um, I've already served my time inside,
so this isn't part of my thing anymore.
I fucking grew up here.
Now would you please open it?
That's it?
Yeah.
Are you sure it worked?
Yeah.
I don't want to go in alone.
Better be careful.
I could get used to this.
I like having paint on my toes sometimes.
Yeah.
Just, I don't know...
doesn't it look a little archaic?
We are supposed to be liberated women.
We are.
But some of the best things in life
most people consider archaic.
Such as?
Well, let's see.
Microscopes made in Japan in the 1930s.
And?
Apple picking in the fall.
And?
And...
large format box cameras,
like the one used by Ansel Adams.
I...
I will do yours next, yeah?
Joseph asked me to join him in his research.
What do you mean?
Abandon your research?
Yes.
We are the only two women in the biology department
who ever got awarded to be in a place like this.
I just...
And your passion? Your passion is your birds!
And Celice, your dissertation? It will be brilliant.
Why would you seriously
just thinking about stepping away like that?
But you don't even know what he's found.
Fine.
Tell me.
An undiscovered species.
And you believe him?
Yes.
Wait here.
Walk around it...
after dark.
Grass at night feels great on my feet, mother.
You should fucking try it sometime.
You try it again, and you're out.
Celice, don't.
Don't go there.
Doesn't it get exhausting?
How you have to diminish every wonderful thing,
like walking through cold, wet grass at night?
What happened to you?
How do you fucking breathe in here, Mother?
Oh!
Okay.
That question that you asked me earlier today.
Bingo!
Brian, that was rude.
Apologize, please.
Very touchy, you two.
Apologize.
I'm gonna go. I should go.
Consider it a...
souvenir.
What's the rush?
Best time to catch the adults in their nests is dawn.
I'm glad my kelp isn't so picky.
Can you put on the kettle for me?
Another biography?
No.
It's a love story actually.
I thought you hated that genre.
I do normally.
But this one is different
Last night.
For how long?
Always.
I mean, we're not in the '50s anymore.
Things are changing.
Seems like they're more active today.
Must be the moisture.
Let's record it! Come on, before it disappears.
What the hell are you doing?
You're not supposed to be in here.
You'd um...
You'd asked me to wait.
Yeah, well, not in my father's study.
I guess you were in there,
poking around in hers to, were you?
She's an amazing photographer.
You pose for her sometimes.
I could tell by the look on your face that you enjoyed it.
And him?
Poetry to paleontology.
Very nice.
What's he do?
He studies bugs.
They're scientists.
What's her thing? Your mother's?
Decay.
Look, you can go now.
Are you sure?
Yeah.
Your folks need their door fixed.
I don't leave things broken.
Well, I'm surprised a guy like you
doesn't understand that some things are just beyond fixing.
Maybe.
But a shit load of others aren't.
Hey.
Do you want a beer?
What should their name be?
I don't know.
It almost feels too soon to think about that.
Maybe.
But we should call them something.
What do you think, Joseph,
Of Sprayhoppers?
It's a good name.
Perfect, really.
I couldn't wait two minutes for water to boil.
I was in such a hurry to be with you.
You know...
Often, looking at our child as she grew up...
conceived has she was as Festa...
burned alive...
I understood that it wasn't her fault,
but there were times...
that I wasn't able to believe that...
as you well know.
Why?
Why did you choose me, Celice?
I was enchanted.
Everything heals.
Of all people, the two of us understand
how nature sees to it.
There's still time for us.
There's...
In the end, Dr. Adkins witnessed
a kind of silvering the body went through.
Life's soft pink...
and death's smudged grey
conspired to find the silver in between.
From a distance, in the late afternoon light,
she observed that her corpse looked like
a shard of fallen ice.
But up close...
quite a bit more colorful.
Less than 100 hours, and a fingertip run along the skin
yields the feel of tendon strings.
Still flesh on flesh...
but barely.
Question?
Yes?
That case, did this evidence help convict the man accused?
I don't believe so.
I understand he got his six-year-old niece to lie
and say he took her to the movies that day.
And then for ice cream.
We used to have a bird feeder in my backyard.
Oh yeah?
My mom and I would sit out there for hours,
and she would...
tell me about all the different types of birds.
My favorite was the American Goldfinch.
I don't know why. It just...
connected with me or something.
No.
Good for you.
Like that?
No, that it was way too hard. You gotta do it underhand.
Okay.
Invite them.
Now whenever I see a Goldfinch, I think of my mom.
Where is she?
She, uh...
She passed
But before she did, she told me to...
to keep feeding the birds,
'cause it's important to take care of something.
Yes, this is Detective Tom Williams
with the state police.
I'm hoping to reach someone of relation
to the owners of a 1997 Subaru
registered to one Joseph and...
Celice Adkins.
Conditions are perfect with these running tides.
They're gone.
Maybe the sun just needs to be lower.
Watch. They'll come, if we're patient.
There's still time.
They called.
I told you not to worry, didn't I?
Did you tell them that I gave her lecture?
It was the police, Regina.
I see.
Are you cold?
I'm not.
I'm...
I'm so sorry.
- It's been awhile... - It's okay.
It's okay.
Miss Adkins.
Hi. We met on the phone.
As I told you, positive ID doesn't require this.
Dental records work, more reliable, more humane.
You didn't have to come.
Were you my daughter, I would not want you
to look under those covers.
There's been a toll taken. A brutal one.
You drive?
Yeah.
Well you might want to take her home.
It's your decision.
I want to see them.
Just take us home.
Please stop! I need to get out!
Where's our lullaby?
Like our Sprayhoppers, vanished.
Maybe not.
You used to think we needed wind.
I still do.
Ah!
See?
We're not forgotten.
What should their name be?
I don't know... it...
It almost feels too soon to think about that.
Maybe. But we should call them something.
What do you think, Joseph, of Sprayhoppers?
Speed courier. I have a letter for Syl Adkins.
Dear Syl...
This is Regina Carter.
Though I do not know when you might come upon this note,
I am sending it to your parents home
with the hope you will find it at some point.
I received the news earlier this afternoon
while at the university.
Though the last time we saw each other was some years ago,
I remember well that we got on.
Anyway, I hope you don't mind if, in this short note...
I write things I feel a need to say to someone,
and I'm afraid that person can now be only you.
I was told where and how your parents were discovered.
We can only hope at that moment
they felt free of anger or sorrow...
or regret.
Beyond the instant of their deaths,
nothing will be mended except by the sentiment
of those who may have witnessed them
as they were at the end.
I was never certain...
but I always suspected their love was formed
by a sustaining wave of some kind
that pulled them together and never released them,
something I must believe was theirs alone.
They deserved a loving and unconscious end...
beyond experience.
These are, Syl...
their ever-ending days...
of being dead.