( wings flapping )
( gasps )
( panting )
( clock ticking )
( playing graceful classical music )
( classical music becomes quieter )
( cassette player playing pleasant classical music )
( bell ringing )
Do you think I should take up jogging, Tess?
Jogging is just walking fast enough to be uncomfortable.
Does he look like he's having fun?
Well, he's not joggin'. He's runnin'.
That's right. He's running away from something.
But he might as well try to outrun his shadow.
( Children singing "Greensleeves" )
Listen. Oh.
♫ You do me wrong Ye cast me ♫
♫ Off discourteously ♫
♫ And I have loved you so long ♫
MONICA: She looks like a little angel.
And she sings like one too.
Present company excepted.
I'm not that bad, am I?
Uh, heh, her name is Melissa.
♫ Greensleeves ♫
( angelic chorus singing along )
♫ Greensleeves was my delight ♫
Ow!
TEACHER: All right, now.
What's going on?
Melissa's not singing.
Why aren't you singing, Melissa?
I don't know.
TEACHER: You don't know?
No.
Liar!
I was just listening to the voices.
Now see, Randy, she was just listening to the voices.
No, not your voices, the other voices.
What other voices?
The ones I hear in my head.
( Children laughing )
That's enough now. Quiet.
You know, Melissa,
I thought you wanted to sing.
Until you're ready to join the group,
you and your voices may go and sit in the corner.
( Humming The Twilight Zone theme )
( children laughing )
All right, children, once again.
One, two, three, four.
♫ Alas, my love You do me wrong ♫
The poor child. She's hearing voices.
Can we help her?
Help is on the way.
But it may be the wrong kind of help.
He may just run them both into trouble.
( Della Reese & The Verity All-Stars' "Walk With You" playing )
REESE: ♫ When you walk ♫
♫ Down the road ♫
♫ Heavy burden ♫
♫ Hea-ea-eavy load ♫
♫ I will rise ♫
♫ And I will walk with you ♫
REESE: ♫ I'll walk with you ♫ CHORUS: ♫ I'll walk with you ♫
♫ Till the sun Don't even shine ♫
♫ Walk with you ♫ ♫ Walk with you ♫
♫ Every time ♫
♫ I tell ya I'll walk with you ♫
♫ Walk with you ♫
♫ Believe me I'll walk with you ♫
ADAM: Wednesday. I had another nightmare.
It's the same one. It's always the same one.
And that sound.
It used to be that I only dreamed about it,
but now, even during the day when it's quiet,
it invades my waking thoughts as well.
It's getting to the point where I'm afraid to go to sleep...
and I'm afraid to wake up.
( Clicks recorder )
( graceful classical music playing )
( increases volume )
( music ends )
Bravo!
( Clapping )
I'm sorry. I tried to knock, but...
Yes?
I'm Monica.
The university sent me.
The graduate assistant.
But they told me I couldn't have one this year.
Well, maybe somebody finally realized how much you need one.
Adam Litowsky.
I, uh... I hope you like children.
Oh, yes, I love them. Little ones and grown up ones.
Does this one belong to you?
Um, that's Katie.
I took that last year up at our cabin... or my cabin.
Katie's mum and I aren't together anymore.
I'm sorry to hear it.
I'm sorry to say it, but we all have to learn to move on.
( Intercom buzzes )
And that sounds like my 10:00.
I hope you're ready to work, Monica.
Mrs. Houghton.
Oh, yes, Dr. Litowsky.
This is my associate, Monica.
Nice to meet you.
And you. And you.
This is Benjamin.
And this is Melissa.
Hello, Melissa.
Hi.
I bet you're wondering why you have to come and see a doctor,
when you don't even feel sick, huh?
Mm-hm.
Well, I'm a different kind of doctor.
I can help you feel better about things like,
uh, your friends,
or problems you might be having in school.
Stuff like that.
But I don't have any problems.
ADAM: Ha. Well...
the best part about coming to visit me
is the playroom down the hall.
Monica.
There's some pretty fun toys in here, don't you think?
Mm, yeah.
What are these for?
Hey. Those are my toys.
Andrew. What brings you here?
I'm still waiting for orders.
But in the meantime, the doctor needs a painter,
and apparently you need some backup.
I do?
So I'm told.
Melissa, right?
Yeah. Andrew.
Uh, now Dr. Litowsky thinks this wall here is really boring.
So he wants me to paint something on it.
But I... I don't know. Do you have any ideas?
Something to make him relax.
He seems kind of nervous.
( Chuckles )
So a relaxing picture?
Yeah.
Okay. Let me think about that.
Who is singing to her?
Are these the voices of people that she knows,
or are they characters from...? From a book?
She won't tell me.
( Sighs )
Well...
Melissa is seven-years-old.
Her father is gone a lot on business.
She has been the complete center of her mother's world,
and then suddenly, a new baby arrives,
crying, demanding and getting everything that he wants.
Melissa now has to compete for your attention,
so she pretends that she's hearing voices.
She can't describe them because she doesn't hear them.
But she knows that even talking about them
is unusual enough to get your attention.
So she does, and it works.
Here you are.
So that's all this is?
Well, I wouldn't underestimate sibling rivalry.
I mean, in some cases,
it can even pose a threat to the baby
if the older sibling is angry enough.
Melissa keeps asking if she can be alone with Benjamin.
Absolutely not.
Let me meet with her and see what I can determine.
But in the meantime,
do not leave Melissa alone with the baby.
Hi, Andrew.
Hi.
Melissa, are you having fun in here without me?
Yeah.
Can I play too?
Mm. We weren't really playing.
We were just talking.
Oh, you were?
Well, uh, Melissa has some ideas for Andrew for the wall.
That's... That's very good.
Let's go with that.
Great. Okay. Well, I have some paint to mix.
So, um, I'll be back in about an hour.
Thanks.
I can take it from here.
See you later, Melissa.
MELISSA: Bye. Bye-bye.
So, uh...
Now, if you could paint anything on that wall, what would it be?
Is it my wall or your wall?
Pretend it's your wall at home in your room.
What would it look like?
It would have shelves on it.
Okay. What would be on the shelves?
My dolls.
Oh, you have a lot of dolls?
Yeah, about a hundred.
Oh.
Do they ever...? Do they ever talk to you?
Or sing to you?
Whose voice do you hear when you hear voices?
Do you think maybe
that it's pretend voices that you hear?
No.
They're not pretend.
It's real.
Nobody will be angry with you if you tell the truth, Melissa.
I am telling the truth.
Is that why I'm in trouble? Because of the voices?
No. You're not in any trouble.
We're just here to talk.
Don't you ever hear stuff nobody else can?
( Wings flapping )
No!
No.
( TV playing in background )
( bell ringing )
Yes, dear?
Where's Mrs. Pulliam?
Mrs. Pulliam has been promoted to music librarian
for the entire school system.
It's a very important job,
and I'm sure we're all very happy for her.
I know she is.
And now you have me
until your principal is able to find a permanent replacement.
Yes, dear?
When Mrs. Pulliam left...
Yes?
Did she remember to tell you that.
Melissa's weird?
I do not accept the word "weird" as a description
for anyone in this class.
However, if anyone would like to be described as
"one who stays after school and cleans the erasers,"
please identify yourselves now.
Uh-huh. All right.
Let's do our warm up.
I want to hear the mi.
♫ Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi ♫
CLASS: ♫ Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi ♫
Mm-mm. Mm-mm.
Uh, just when is this little concert of yours?
In two weeks.
That figures.
Okay. Try it one more time.
The mi. The mi.
♫ Mi, mi, mi, mi ♫
ALL: ♫ Mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi, mi ♫
Mi... mi... mi. Mi.
Wait right here, kids.
( Angelic choir singing )
All right, come on.
Looks like a nap time for you. Come on.
MONICA: What are you looking for here?
A key, a code word, something she might say or do
that will help me talk my way into her world.
We know she's pretending to hear voices.
It might help if we knew who she pretends those voices are.
But what if she's not pretending?
What if she really hears voices?
Then we have a serious problem.
I was wondering if it would be worthwhile observing Melissa
interacting with her brother.
Putting her together with the source of her anger
isn't the answer.
MONICA: But she talks to dolls.
Maybe she'll talk
to a real one.
MELISSA: Yeah, yeah. ( giggling )
They've never left me alone with you before.
But I'm glad.
We've got lots to talk about.
MELISSA: I don't remember being a baby.
Oh, here we go.
MELISSA: She makes sounds.
And it talks to you.
This is a waste of time.
I wish you could talk to me, 'cause I'm starting to forget.
Forget? Forget what?
That's the hard part about growing up. They go away.
Nobody else in class even hears them anymore.
Oh, my God.
That's the only thing I remember about being a baby,
Benjamin, and that's what you've got to try and hold on to.
Even though you're getting bigger.
You have to keep listening, or they go away.
Who?
Sometimes I think I'm the only one who can hear them.
But you hear the angels, don't you, Benjamin?
'Cause you're still just a baby.
She didn't just say "angels."
Of course.
Of course what?
She hears angels.
Well, she won't when we're finished treating her.
( Thunder rumbles )
( flamboyant classical music playing )
( music stops )
( bold classical music playing )
( electricity crackles )
( wings flapping )
( thunder rumbling )
( bell ringing )
( angelic choir singing )
( wings flapping )
Ahh!
WOMAN: Hold on there.
Let's take a breather.
I'm Clara. Sit for a minute.
It's kind of late for a young lady to be out, isn't it?
I came to see the angels.
You think there are angels here?
Sometimes I can hear them.
And this is the tallest place I know,
so I figured maybe this is where they sleep.
Don't you know?
Angels are there to be awake while you're sleeping.
Sometimes they sing to me.
You hear the angels.
Mm-hm.
That's very unusual.
That's what everybody says.
I guess people aren't supposed to hear angels.
No, it's just
that it's unusual for someone your age to still hear them.
But you hear them, though.
What do you mean?
Well, there are a lot of noisy sounds in the world.
And the older you get, the more noise you hear.
Grown-up sounds, like, um,
school bells, telephone bells, televisions, radios...
And the dishwasher, it's really loud.
And the dishwasher, right.
All those sounds and... kids forget about angel voices.
But you haven't, have you?
That's what I told Benjamin.
He's my little brother.
He's only six-months-old.
It's almost time for Benjamin to wake up
and have his 2:00 feeding.
I bet someone's gonna notice that you're not in your bed.
Yeah.
Better be getting back.
Yes. Well, why don't I walk you back, just to be safe, hm?
Okay.
You're the oldest person I've ever met
who knows about the angels.
I bet I'm the oldest person you ever met... ever.
All right, Melissa.
Tell me what you think it looks like.
Just be honest.
It's an angel flying.
Mm-hm.
And that's an angel too.
She's singing.
So... why are you showing me all these pictures of angels?
Does it make you feel special to see angels?
Well, I don't usually see them.
You were showing them to me.
So at school, in choir, you don't see angels?
No. I just hear them.
Well, how do you know they're angels?
I just know.
You know what I mean?
I'm not sure. Tell me more.
You know how you just know something, like...
Like you know there is God.
You just know, right?
Do you?
Sure.
Because of the angels?
Did they tell you that God exists?
Nah, everybody knows about God.
Don't you?
Well, I'm... I'm interested in your ideas, Melissa.
You... don't believe in God?
What would that mean to you if I didn't?
Oh, I think that would be very sad.
Um, um, Melissa would you ask your mum to come in here
for a minute before you go home?
Are you going to show her the angel pictures?
Well, I'd like to tell her about them, yes.
Okay.
She seems in fine spirits today.
I realize that you're new at this,
but you've got to look closer, Monica.
This child is in serious trouble.
( Scoffs )
Because she hears angels?
That doesn't seem like serious trouble to me.
Because she truly believes she's hearing them.
Her mother informed me today
that Melissa started sleepwalking.
Sleepwalking?
Yes.
They got up for Benjamin's 2:00 feeding,
and they found Melissa in the living room
wearing her raincoat,
talking about a woman named Clara.
Clara?
Thank God they found her before she walked outside.
Yes, of course.
Um, this Clara, how exactly did she describe her?
She said, uh,
she was a... A kind grandmother
with a nice sweet voice
who knew all about, uh, her angels.
You see,
now that everything that she's saying is being questioned,
she's making up an ally to support her lying.
Well, what is she isn't lying?
Well, of course she's lying.
Or more accurately, she's delusional.
I hate to say it.
We may be looking at a classic case of psychosis here.
Melissa might be schizophrenic.
EMILY: Oh, my God.
She met Clara.
Well, then, there's our answer.
Maybe for Melissa, but not for Adam.
I wanted to believe that it was an overactive imagination.
Why do you think the beliefs of children
are any less real than the beliefs of adults?
Because they are children.
And it's our responsibility as adults
to provide them with our guidance, our protection.
I want to get Melissa started on Thorazine
as soon as possible.
Isn't there another way?
Medication doesn't seem like the right answer.
Monica, do I need to remind you that you're here to learn?
Schedule Melissa to come in here as soon as possible.
Well, you have an opening tomorrow afternoon.
No, I don't.
I didn't see any appointments on the schedule.
It's not a patient.
It's my daughter's birthday.
Do you know why we've been going to see Dr. Adam?
Because I got in trouble at school
for hearing the angels.
Dr. Adam thinks that maybe...
He thinks that you would feel better
if we made the angels go away.
Why?
Because you're not supposed to hear things like that.
I'm sorry.
Honey, you didn't do anything wrong.
The doctor thinks that we...
That you should take some medicine
to help make the voices go away.
Forever?
Yeah.
I'm going to miss them.
Everything's gonna be okay.
ANDREW: Do you remember Van Gogh?
MONICA: Mm-hm. What about him?
Seriously disturbed dude.
But, whoa. Could he handle inspiration.
There was an artist.
What is your point?
Ah, it just seems a shame.
I mean, by the time they're Melissa's age
most kids... they don't hear the choir anymore.
But maybe she's gonna be a great musician
or... Or singer someday. Maybe this is her inspiration.
Now, um, Tess is handling the music part of this, right?
Not... Not you.
What is wrong with my voice?
N-nothing.
It just seems that if you're gonna be a part of this case,
then you have something to contribute... besides music.
I certainly do.
I just wish I knew what it was.
It's funny, isn't it?
How Melissa is trying so hard to keep hearing something,
and Adam is trying so hard to drown something out.
But what is it?
What is it that he can't bear to listen to?
Maybe he's just a sensitive guy.
He always has those earphones on.
Well, he's going to need them today.
Children's birthday parties are anything but quiet.
Oh, he's going to a birthday party. Whose?
Katie's.
Katie's?
( Melancholy theme playing )
Katie.
Katie was only seven, the same age as Melissa.
How did it happen?
I don't know. I wasn't there.
I expected to be,
but then I was pulled off the case at the last minute,
and somebody else handled it.
I'd forgotten about it until you mentioned her name.
A child psychologist whose own child is dead, huh?
There are so many kids who really need his help,
and all he wants to do is silence
the one little girl who doesn't.
Andrew, have you noticed something funny
about these humans? Hm.
When life is easy, they love everyone.
Everything is beautiful, and God is good.
But when a human's heart gets broken,
suddenly the beauty disappears.
The laughter of a child brings only pain...
and the faith of a child is just a fire to be put out.
How can a man with so much sorrow like that help anyone?
And how many other children will he treat
with his own broken heart?
Monica, I just remembered something.
There wasn't an angel with Katie when she died.
( Knocking )
Yes.
Melissa's mother just called.
She started medication.
Good. Good.
May I speak with you for a moment?
Mm-hm.
( Elegant classical music playing )
I think you're letting the loss of your daughter
affect your judgment about Melissa's treatment.
My daughter... has nothing to do with my work.
What will be left of this child if you destroy her faith?
She has faith in something that doesn't exist.
Children are talked into believing in God...
and angels.
And maybe it doesn't actually hurt them...
but sometimes...
when you have a child like Melissa, who is truly ill,
it only makes treatment harder.
I don't believe that Melissa is ill,
and I don't believe that anyone talked her
into believing in God.
As a matter of fact, I believe that children are born
with a natural faith in God,
and it's adults who talk them out of their faith.
Maybe Melissa is one of those remarkable children
whose heart won't let go of what she knows
and whose ears can still somehow hear the voices of angels
a little longer than the rest of the world.
Don't talk to me about what children can hear.
( Wings flapping )
ANDREW: What do you think?
Get rid of the birds. I don't want birds!
( Bell ringing )
Children, children.
We only have a few days until the concert,
and we have a lot of work to do.
Places, please.
And, sopranos, I want nice big voices today.
Hey, Melissa!
Wake up.
Can you hear me in there?
I think I'm hearing your voices, Melissa.
I don't hear voices anymore.
How come?
Maybe I never did.
TESS: Come on, let's start our warm up.
Melissa, Randy, come on.
( Fanciful classical music playing )
Possible breakthroughs:
The voices seem to have abated.
With continued counseling and meds,
I expect that Katie will no longer be with the angel.
No, no, no, no, no.
That... Melissa... Melissa will no longer be with the...
( wings flapping )
That Melissa will show continued improvement...
( knocking ) That...
I'm sorry. I tried to stop her.
My child doesn't laugh anymore, doctor.
She doesn't play. She doesn't smile.
She's... She's adjusting to the medication,
just as expected.
EMILY: Her pediatrician thinks
the medication might be unwarranted.
MONICA: Perhaps medication isn't the answer.
Monica, you're not qualified to second guess my treatments.
She's right! The medicine is not working.
You should have seen my daughter after school today.
She was simply catatonic.
Now, I want to take her off that medication.
It's not so simple.
This is the process of finding the right dosage
to keep her normal.
( Scoffs )
Normal?
This is normal?
You may have taken her angels away,
but you have taken her away too.
Just give me a little more time with Katie.
Katie?
I meant Melissa.
Melissa needs time.
( Door slams )
( mysterious theme playing )
ANDREW: I know it's a little Van Gogh-y, but I just felt inspired!
I-I-I just saw the trees,
and then the cabin just came to me.
Had to paint it.
No!
( Pills rattling )
He keeps turning up the volume,
but the truth is screaming to be heard.
ANDREW: I was inspired, all right.
You know that cabin I was painting?
That's where he's going.
And I'm afraid of what he's going up there to do.
( Somber theme playing )
I'm here at the cabin.
Nothing has changed.
Nothing and everything.
( Clicks recorder )
( birds chirping )
( mysterious theme playing )
( hinges creak )
( door shuts )
( latch clicks )
( faucet squeaks )
The door was still unlocked.
Of course, why would I have stopped to lock it?
( Clicks recorder )
( wind whistling )
I just can't stand the silence.
( Clicks recorder )
MONICA: If all you can hear is silence,
then maybe you're not listening hard enough.
Experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations.
You think I'm something in your imagination?
You can't begin to imagine what I am, Adam.
And the sad thing is, I wish that you could,
because that's why God has sent me here.
It's time to start imagining how much he loves you.
Appears to be some kind of stress-induced, religious,
spiritual manifestation.
I am an angel,
and there's nothing you can do that will explain me away,
no drug that will make me disappear.
And taking your own life, it won't bring her back.
( Tearfully ): Oh, God.
Oh, God!
She's gone.
All I heard was that...
that sound.
Oh, my God, that sound.
And she was gone.
Tell me what happened.
What happened to Katie?
Adam, I'm not here to stop you from taking your own life.
That's a decision that only you can make.
But I can show you what happened to your daughter.
Do you want me to?
Yes.
The leaves are so pretty.
I just used them to decorate the table.
Oh.
Are you in a marshmallow mood?
Daddy, you have to eat lunch first.
Hey! Who's supposed to be the kid?
( Birds chirping ) This is gonna be
one of my super-duper fires.
Listen! Birds!
Daddy, wait.
They're inside the fireplace.
What?
They must have built their nest up there.
Man, you have good ears.
I didn't even hear that.
Daddy, you can't light the fire until they leave.
Katie, they could be up there for weeks.
So?
What about my marshmallows?
( Giggles )
Daddy, wait right here.
( Door shuts )
KATIE ( echoes ): Daddy!
Daddy.
( Wings flapping )
They're like little angels.
( Wood cracks ) Ahh!
Daddy!
( Wings flapping )
Katie!
( Sobbing ): Make it stop.
Adam...
the sounds you've heard this year,
the beating of wings,
you can let them torment you or...
( wings flapping )
Or you can let them bring you peace.
But you've been looking for reasons instead of peace,
and there will never be enough reasons
to accept the death of your child.
But God will always give you enough peace to live with it.
I could have stopped her. I should have been there.
No, it wasn't your fault.
There's nothing you could have done.
But there is something you can do now.
You see, Adam, children are very precious to God,
and no child ever leaves this earth
without an angel alongside.
God loves you, Adam.
And he wants you to know that Katie is safe and happy.
But there wasn't an angel with Katie when she died.
There was an archangel.
You see, angels like me, I work on individual cases,
sort of one on one.
But sometimes something happens, like Katie's death,
where all sorts of people's lives are changed because of it,
and it needs an archangel to... coordinate, you might say.
This one, her name was Clara.
Clara?
Melissa's dream.
Melissa's friend and the friend to all those children
you couldn't give your best to since Katie died.
And the truth is, most of them really need your help.
And you have the skill to help them.
You just lost the heart.
And then there is Melissa who only needed to be believed,
and yet belief was the very thing you couldn't give her.
( Sighs )
Can you give it to her now, Adam?
So this is where you met her.
Mm-hm.
And she was standing right over there...
like that.
Hi, Clara.
Hello, Melissa.
Monica.
Nice work.
Thank you.
Katie felt no pain, Adam.
At that moment,
she saw only beauty,
and she has seen only beauty ever since.
I bet Katie hears the angels all the time, huh?
All the time.
I stopped taking medicine, Clara.
I'm glad to hear that.
But I can't hear the angels like I used to.
Well, Melissa, you're not always going to hear the angels.
But never stop listening for them.
Sometimes you'll hear them in the trees,
sometimes in the crickets at dusk,
and sometimes you will hear an angel
in the sound of "hello."
So never stop listening.
Never forget that you once heard them.
That someday... you will hear them again.
Who knows? Maybe I will too.
( laughing )
( crowd murmuring )
( applause )
I'm sorry I'm late,
but I had something really important to do.
I know, baby, and it's all right.
Go on. Get up there now.
Did anyone ever tell you, you sing like an angel?
( laughs )
All the time. All the time.
( Pitch pipe sounds )
♫ 'Tis a gift to be simple 'Tis a gift to be free ♫
♫ 'Tis a gift to come down Where we ought to be ♫
♫ And when we find ourselves In the place just right ♫
♫ We'll be in the valley Of love and delight ♫
♫ When true simplicity is king ♫
♫ To bow and to bend We shan't be ashamed... ♫
Go ahead.
I can't.
That's not what he wants.
Clara, you know, way back when I was in the angels' choir,
my voice was...
Heavenly. Yes!
But down here, it's...
Why isn't it as good here?
Because nothing is as good here as it is there.
You know that.
And when I'm in human form,
I don't sing worth a darn, either.
We have gifts, Monica.
Your gift is not music like Tess,
and you do not have the gift of eternity
that Andrew can bring.
Your gift is truth.
You speak it, people hear it.
And it is the cause of a great joy.
God has seen your work, and he is pleased.
Now go on and do what you want to do.
But I just sound so terrible.
So?
He never said, "Make a beautiful noise unto the Lord."
He said, "Make a joyful noise."
All he asks is for your joy so that he may live within it.
Come on.
Celebrate this day with him.
Okay.
( Clears throat )
♫ Joyful, joyful We adore thee ♫
♫ God of glory Lord of love ♫
♫ Hearts unfold like Flowers before thee ♫
♫ Opening to the sun above ♫
( angelic choir singing Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" )
( heartfelt theme playing )