1
This is a story about a man
named Eddie...
and it begins at the end,
with Eddie dying in the sun.
You might think it strange...
to start a story
with an ending.
But all endings
are also beginnings...
We just don't know it
at the time.
You lose this?
I suppose I should
come down there...
and give it back to you, huh?
That's what I thought.
You love this balloon?
Then hold tight to it.
- Thanks, Eddie Maintenance.
- Just Eddie.
But your shirt says,
'Eddie Main-te-nance.'
Well, Eddie is my name.
Maintenance is my job.
And this is just a shirt.
You have a cool job.
Well...
go catch up with your father.
Years ago, people
thought of Ruby Pier...
as a magical
and mysterious place.
Once, even Eddie
felt that way.
What are we gonna
fix today, pop?
I don't know, Eddie.
Whatever's broke.
Where ya been?
Hey, Gracie. How's tricks?
Okay.
Hiya, Eddie.
Watch the kid for me,
will ya?
Sure... How long
you gonna be?
Not long.
C'mon, Eddie. You want
to fix something for me?
Is it fixed yet?
Good as new, Pop.
Where's your brother?
I dunno.
Well, find him.
What is it with you two?
He was supposed
to be here by now.
What the hell
happened to you?
These guys...
they took my jacket...
There were four of 'em, Pop.
I coulda taken two,
but there were four...
What are you waitin' for?
What are you waiting for?
Take care of it!
Hey, pretty sharp!
Not again!
Look at you!
Look at ya... you're bleeding.
You get 'em, then?
What are you talking about?
Did you put him up to this?
I asked you... did you get 'em?
Good boy.
Honestly.
This fighting has to stop!
You wanna grow up
to be an engineer?
Do you? How you
gonna be an engineer...
if your hands are
all busted up, huh?
Eddie's too dumb
to be an engineer.
- Hey, careful!
- Knock it off!
You, too.
This war in Europe keeps up...
you'll be lucky to get
a crappy job like mine...
Eddie...
Eddie, are you there?
Yeah, Dom.
Hey, Eddie, we need
the keys to gate 16...
I'm on my way.
The last hour of Eddie's life
was spent like all the others.
Children liked Eddie.
Teenagers gave him headaches.
Knock it off!
What do you think you're doing!
It ain't safe!
They wanna get through
in there, Jason.
Clean it up.
Eddie Maintenance?
Just Eddie.
Eddie... can you...
Come on, kiddo.
I ain't got all day.
Can you make me an animal?
- Where's your mother?
- She's over there eating.
- Without you?
- With her boyfriend.
That's the piece that makes
it work... watch... here...
there, like that...
- and then...
- It's a rabbit!
Yeah, rabbit.
Thank you!
Go show your mother
what you got.
Eddie rode every ride
at Ruby Pier...
once a week to be certain
they were safe.
He'd done it for so long...
he could almost 'hear'
trouble coming...
in the spits and sputters of
the engines and the brakes.
Often he thought this was no way
for a man to grow old.
But this was his life, 'Eddie
Maintenance' they called him...
and a maintenance man he was.
Can I go now, Pop?
- Is it fixed?
- It's fixed.
Take that!
You're dead.
Practicing to kill, are ya, lad?
Hello, Mr. Shea.
You got any spare change you
ain't put in that toy gun there?
That was my last nickel.
Have you seen
your father, then?
We were in the war together.
Here's the thing about the war.
You don't think.
You just shoot and you shoot...
and then you pray
you come home.
It's the thinking
that gets you killed.
Eddie! Eddie!
The skeeball's broken.
Come on, Eddie,
come on, come on!
It's just the lever here.
There ya go, boys.
Juggle.
Yeah! Juggle, Eddie! Come on!
Alright, alright...
you got the magic ball.
How does he do it, folks?
Greatest show on earth...
watch him, buddy boys,
and you will be amazed...
Excuse me...
Excuse me.
What?
My friends and I were looking
for some of those lemon fizzes.
Yeah, right over there
by the carousel.
But that stand's closed already.
But I can fix that...
So, do you have a key
for all the food stands?
I got a key for everything.
Well, to be honest,
they're my Pop's keys...
He's the maintenance...
he fixes stuff here.
I'm just helping him out...
to save up enough money
for engineering school.
After the army, of course.
- You enlisted?
- Last week.
I gotta do my part.
Well... I better get back.
My friend's will think I swam off
into the ocean or something.
A souvenir.
I don't know your name.
Marguerite.
I'm Eddie.
Thanks for the fizz, Eddie.
It's the birthday boy!
Happy birthday, boss!
C'mon, Eddie. Live it up.
You only get a birthday, what?
Once a year?
Sounds about right.
How old are you now?
Old.
Man, I hope I live
to be as old as you.
Why?
Dom...
put the tools in the right spot.
Them labels are there
for a reason.
Hey, don't forget,
I'm off next week.
Me and Maria going to Miami
for our anniversary.
- You ever been to Miami?
- Me?
I never been anywhere I wasn't
shipped to with a rifle.
Here...
Naw... I can't.
Buy your wife something nice.
You sure?
Thanks, man.
Is that going to be enough?
- There you go.
- Thank you!
Marguerite you want
to do the honors?
- Who's this from?
- I don't know...
You made me love you
All the time you knew it
I guess you always knew it
You made happy
You look swell tonight.
Thank you.
Eddie.
Are you afraid?
- I'd be afraid.
- You ain't the fightin' type.
Look at it this way. I get to
see some faraway places, right?
I always wanted to do that.
I've never been more than
five miles from here.
Me, neither...
But that's gonna change.
Really?
I ain't spending the rest
of my life at Ruby Pier.
Marguerite...
You don't have to ask me.
I don't?
- Ask you what?
- To wait.
Just don't die, ok?
I ain't gonna die.
I ain't gonna die...
Eddie! Eddie!
I see it! I see it!
Get up there!
Alright everybody, stay calm...
stay calm!
Who's up there with ya?
Willie!
Okay, tell Willie to release
the safety bars...
green button, rear panel...
you got it?
Then send down that cart!
Everybody just stay calm...
Hydraulics, gears...
- cables...
- Rear panel, safety box...
It's the cable...
This will all be over
in a few minutes...
Don't release the cart...
it's gonna fall...
it's gonna fall!
Get back, all of ya's!
Get back! Back!
It's gonna fall! Get back!
Back! Move!
All of ya's, get back... move!
Get back, it's gonna fall!
This is a story about
a man named Eddie.
But the end of his life
was only the beginning.
Eddie saw nothing of his
final moment on earth...
He felt no pain from his death.
All he felt was lightness,
and calm...
as if every hurt he had
ever suffered...
had been washed away.
And then he woke up.
How about him,
ladies and gentlemen?
Have you ever seen
a more horrible sight?
Look well upon this savage!
He is not of the human race!
From the farthest corners
of the earth...
we bring you this tragic soul
for your examination...
Hello, Edward.
I have been waiting for you.
Eddie had seen this man
before in his life.
Don't be afraid...
don't be afraid.
He didn't know why
he was seeing him again.
Your body feels like
a child's, no?
You were a child
when you knew me...
that's why.
You start here with the same
feelings you had on earth.
You can't talk
when you first arrive.
God's little lesson, I suppose.
Helps you listen.
Tell me something.
The 'Bullwhip'.
Is it still the fastest
roller coaster on earth?
I figured as much.
Nothing changes here.
And there is no peering down
from the clouds, I'm afraid.
Yes.
You died.
An accident.
How long ago?
A minute. An hour.
A thousand years.
Where are you?
Where do you think?
Heaven.
There are five people you meet
in heaven, Edward.
Each one of us was
in your life for a reason.
People think of heaven
as a Garden Of Eden...
mountains, rivers.
But what is scenery
without solace?
This is the greatest gift
God can give you, Edward...
to understand your life
on Earth.
'Tis why you are here.
When I died, my life is
lluminated by five others.
And then I came here
to wait for you.
To tell you my story.
Which becomes part of yours.
Did you ever dance here?
I never danced with a woman.
I was a nervous boy,
and a nervous man.
Everything scared me.
What the hell's wrong
with you?
You were born
with two left feet!
A chemist, for my problem,
gave me silver nitrate.
You know this?
Yes. A poison, today.
But we were not
so smart back then.
I drank it and when it didn't
work, I drank more.
It turned my skin this color.
A side effect.
Permanent, I'm afraid.
My life as a man was over.
My life as a freak had begun.
I had many names.
Algeria. Tanzania.
I had never been
to any of those places.
It made me feel... exotic.
One summer, I came here.
Ruby Pier.
The ocean. The sand.
I could walk in the mornings,
before the customers arrived.
I can feel the sea breeze.
Like a normal man.
I was happy here
until the day I died.
You see, Edward.
This is not your heaven.
It's mine.
What?
What...
killed...
you?
You did.
You see the boy?
See the man in the car?
It was only my second time.
It was on a Saturday morning.
I thought, what can happen?
I so loved it, behind
the wheel of an automobile.
Like a normal man.
Watch it... look out!
What I almost did.
That little boy.
My blood was rushing.
My heart was not strong.
And it surrendered.
The police wrote 'heart attack'
on the official papers.
No one saw.
No one knew.
No one pays much notice to
a freak, even when he dies.
People just...
go on with their lives...
You see now
why you are here...
God help me, Mister.
I didn't mean it...
You dying...
I didn't know!
But how could you know?
You were only a child.
So now I gotta pay, right?
- Pay?
- For my sin?
That's what I'm here for,
right? Justice?
No, no, no, no. You are here
so I can teach you something.
Each one of your five people...
has one such thing
to show you, to illuminate.
By the end, what you did not
understand in life, you will.
But why do I have
to wear Joe's shoes?
- Quiet!
- Stop wiggling!
But it's my birthday!
I don't want to go.
Well, sometimes you have to do
things you don't want to do.
I remember this...
we had to go to a funeral...
your funeral?
But it's my birthday!
What did I say?
What did I say?
I said be quiet!
Ma?
Come on, son.
I did not attract
a big crowd that day.
But it's not fair!
It was my own stupidity,
running out there like that.
I should have been
the one killed...
not you!
Fairness does not
govern life and death.
If it did, no good man
would ever die young.
During my time on earth...
people died instead
of me, too.
An airplane crashes that
you should have been on.
A fire burns the building that
you left an hour before.
There are no random acts.
We are all connected.
- Good comes from it.
- Good?
What good came from this?
You died.
Well...
you lived.
But I barely knew you.
We were strangers.
Strangers are just family
you have yet to come to know.
I am leaving now, Edward.
I can go on.
Wait...
The little girl
at the pier?
I tried to save her...
I felt her hands...
I musta pulled her...
I can't remember after that...
Did I save her? Was the last
thing I did a failure, too?
I cannot answer that.
Then... my life was a waste...
No life is a waste.
There will be others.
Your journey does not end here.
Can I ask you...
where are you going?
I'm not.
Couldn't sleep.
Me, neither.
When you think they'll
open us up again?
I don't know.
Ask the police.
I still can't believe it,
you know?
I always thought he was
too stubborn to die.
There was a second
heaven for Eddie...
although heaven was not
the word he would have chosen.
His body felt
older now, stronger.
And he ran with the hard,
measured steps of a soldier.
Smallpox!
Smallpox! Typhoid!
Tetanus!
Yellow Fever!
You know, I never did find out
what the hell Yellow Fever was.
All them shots, for all those
diseases, and I still died here...
anyhow, healthy as a horse.
Doesn't seem right, does it?
Coulda saved my arm
all them pokey needles.
Who are you?
How do you like them apples?
Come on.
That was funny.
Come on down!
Come on up!
Ah, you don't wanna look down.
It'll only make ya dizzy.
You got real old...
that's a compliment.
They explain the rules
to you, soldier?
- I'm dead...
- You got that right.
You're my second person?
Got that right, too.
Left you your helmet.
And your old rifle.
Not that they're much use
to ya here.
Captain?
Affirmative.
Betcha didn't expect me, huh?
Hey Goldilocks...
it'll take you a lot
longer than that...
to get as pretty as me,
you know that!
Dog Zero Six, this is
Able Zero Six, over.
Dog Zero Six, if you copy,
break squelch, twice, over.
C'mon, Rabozzo, ya stickpin.
Pick it up!
It's hot.
And I got all this
extra stuff to carry.
Ah, I'm sorry Daisy, you got a
little stain on your dress, there?
Shut your yap!
Must be jingle-brained...
Keep it on that ridge.
I can't...
You can't? What do you
mean, you can't?
What are you going
to just sit there?
- Get up! Hey, get up!
- Hold on, Morton, hold on.
Before you go killing anybody.
I got a better idea.
Give me your pack, Rabozzo.
Come on.
I'll race you to the Captain.
I'll carry his pack...
Ioser's gotta carry it
till dark.
Okay, Goldilocks.
You're on.
You sure you can do that,
Eddie?
You ever run up a roller coaster
with a sledgehammer?
Come on, Rabozzo, go.
Say your prayers, buddy boy.
- What the hell you grunts doing?
- It's a race, Cap!
A race! That's open ground!
On three. One... two...
Look at Eddie go.
Man, he's a carny. He probably
walks tightropes, too.
Go, go, go! Move it!
Open up!
Come on, Eddie!
Captain?
It is you.
But you look...
Like the last time you saw me?
See, time ain't what
you think it is, kid.
Either is dying.
I figure it's like that whole
Adam and Eve thing, right?
Adam's first night on Earth...
when he lays down to sleep...
he probably thinks,
that's it, right?
His eyes are closing,
the world's over, he's a gonner...
what does he know from sleep?
Next morning he wakes up!
He still has the world,
but now he has something else...
he has his yesterday.
Aw, you're right.
No reason to spit up here.
No reason to smoke.
Old habits, I guess.
Look, Captain... sir.
No reason for that either,
but much obliged.
Captain, there's some
kinda mistake going on.
I mean. I don't belong here.
I lived a nothin' life, see?
I never went nowhere.
I never accomplished
anything worth note.
Couldn't find a job?
No. No, I had a job.
A dumb job. I fixed the rides
at this amusement park.
Ruby Pier.
Ruby Pier.
That's the place you always used
to tell us about, right?
We were all gonna go there
when the war was done.
'Free rides with the prettiest
ladies in the tunnel of love.'
That's right.
You ever seen them boys again?
Morton? Smitty?
Morton... Smitty...
Throw the pineapple!
Throw it, Johnny, come on!
Johnny!
The grenade!
Eddie learned
the quiet prayers of war.
He learned to go
days without rest...
and nights without sleep.
He learned how
to take a prisoner...
but not how to become one.
And then one night,
in the Philippines...
he learned that, too.
- Who's that?
- Shut it, kid.
Aw, you bastards...
Eddie?
You heard him, kid.
Shut it.
They're gonna kill us.
I never saw none of them
boys after the war.
Well, people lose touch...
- So.
- What?
You went back to that park,
you took that job. Then what?
Then nothing. I never left.
I meant to. But I...
things never worked out.
Money. My leg.
I never really got the war
out of my head.
Maybe you weren't supposed to.
One more sip for me,
okay champ?
Do that for me...
Good. That's it.
What is it?
In this rat hole?
Could be anything.
He can't keep his food down.
What food?
I'm freezing...
Oh God...
Easy, buddy boy... easy.
Where is everybody?
They're losing this war...
How desperate do they gotta be
using us to do this?
I figure some go awol
every night.
Rats off a sinking ship.
- How much longer?
- Not much.
I seen them digging
ditches up the way.
Now the oil barrels.
So?
The oil's for burning
the evidence.
They're digging our graves.
He's sick...
He's sick, you son of a bitch!
For God's sake, Eddie.
No!
No!
I used to pray every night
during the war.
I'd take Marguerite's picture...
and I'd make these deals
with God, see.
I'd say...
I'll give you one more
week as a soldier...
if you give me
one more week with her.
I'll give you one more month
in this life...
if you give me one month
in that one.
Used to?
I stopped the night
they shot Rabozzo.
All I could think about
after that was getting out.
I was gonna take care
of myself, if I made it...
in one piece.
That never happened,
of course.
You know,
it's the damndest thing.
I'm dead.
But I feel...
I feel healthy.
Strong as I ever was.
You still juggle?
Captain...
Captain...
I think we got a chance here.
What're you talking about?
- I can juggle.
- What?
I can juggle.
Them rocks.
Hey!
Hey you! Over here!
I can juggle...
Juggle?
Yeah, here. Lemme try.
Lemme try. I can do it.
What's going on?
Okay?
Huh, you like that?
Yeah, see?
Okay, give me one more.
- Motto.
- Motto?
Yeah, one more.
One more...
I can do it.
Yeah, motto.
I'll juggle them for you.
Alright...
Yeah, he's good...
Good...
Good, huh?
Pretty good, huh?
Good!
Boy can juggle!
- Motto...
- Motto?
Yeah, four!
Four?
Four rocks, yeah, I can do it.
I'll get whosever
closest to the door...
Morton?
Just give me an opening.
Yeah, right here...
right here.
They're giving us rocks.
Okay... it's okay... okay.
Just having some fun...
Juggle... juggle.
You really this good?
I used to pitch, Captain.
Look at this, huh?
Isn't he something else,
ladies and gents?
You get the one on the left,
alright!
Smitty, you get
the one on the right...
- Okay, ready for four?
- Four!
- You guys ready for four?
- Four!
- Four?
- Four!
On my count, guys...
One!
Two!
Three...
Four!
For Rabozzo.
It was war, Eddie.
I never stopped
thinking about it...
my whole life...
these dreams...
Every soldier has dreams.
We coulda just run.
We didn't have to destroy
the whole place.
What did you see?
In those dreams?
Hey, Eddie, what you doing?
Yeah, burn it down, Eddie!
Burn the whole place down!
Fire in the hole!
Eddie! Come on!
Let's go! Let's go!
Eddie, what are you doing?
Are you coming?
Is somebody in there?
Eddie, Eddie,
we gotta go... come on!
There's somebody in there!
Come on, we gotta go,
let's go now!
I think there's
somebody in there!
Eddie... Movin' out! Let's go!
You'll die in there! Come out!
Eddie! There's nobody in there,
let's go!
Come on, we gotta go, now!
Come out! I won't shoot you...
I'm a soldier...
I'm a soldier...
You remember how
you got out of there?
That bullet got you good.
Lost a lot of blood.
And them boys patched you up
as best they could.
Those planes firing.
I never...
I never saw it coming...
Everything changed after that.
I couldn't run no more.
Couldn't play baseball.
I used to swim the ocean
like a fish...
You didn't stop walking.
No, I just stopped... moving.
I sorta sat down in my life.
I ever tell you I come
from a military family?
My father was a soldier...
his father, and his father, too.
At the dinner table it was
'yes, sir, no sir.'
All I did was take orders.
Then along comes a war, and all
of a sudden, I'm giving orders.
Kids are looking at me
for answers.
They thought I could
keep 'em alive.
You did too, didn't ya?
I couldn't, of course.
I took orders
like everyone else.
But I thought...
if I couldn't keep you alive...
at least I could
keep you together.
In the middle of big war,
you grab at them little ideas.
We're going home together.
That's right.
Going home together...
meant a lot, Captain.
I hope so.
Why do you say that?
'Cause I was the one
who shot you.
Not you...
Not you...
Not you!
Get it out...
- Go ahead.
- Not you!
The story of the tragedy
at Ruby Pier...
was in the newspapers
for several days.
Then other stories
took its place.
Well, pretty tidy
for an old guy.
Are you surprised?
Don't think we'll find any
bank statements in there.
It's the same apartment
Eddie grew up in.
I don't know why
he never moved out.
You'd think he'd want
some air conditioning.
You'd think he'd want
a change of scenery.
There's the soldier boy.
Hey, Eddie.
Happy birthday, son.
Here's your cake.
Happy birthday...
Happy birthday, Eddie.
Happy birthday, Eddie.
Joe, you got matches?
Here you go...
Alright...
Good job.
You're alright, son.
So he looks pretty good, all
things considered, don't he Pop?
You look really good, son...
Really, you look good, Eddie.
You bastard!
How could you do that?
- How could you do that?
- Get it out.
My leg! My leg!
- My life!
- Get it out...
My life! Why?
- I had to.
- Why? Why?
I took your leg
to save your life.
You would have died
in that fire.
You were obsessed.
You damn near knocked
Morton unconscious.
Another second and you
woulda been so deep in...
none of us
could have gotten you.
There was nobody in that hut...
what was I thinking?
I seen it happen
a hundred times.
A soldier reaches a certain
point and he's done.
Sometimes,
in the dead of night...
a man'll just come out of his
tent just start walking...
like he lives around the corner,
like he's going home.
- Why didn't I just die?
- Wasn't your time to die.
I couldn't just let you
burn alive.
I figured a leg
wound would heal...
Morton pulled you
out of there.
And the others got you home.
What do you mean
'the others' got me home?
It's just like I told you.
Tetanus? Yellow fever?
All them shots?
Just a big waste of my time.
Look.
Look at it burn!
Hah, we're going home!
Hang on, Eddie!
Come on...
Eddie, look at me!
Come on, Eddie!
Eddie, look at me!
Damn!
I'm gonna blow that lock
and check around the curve.
Keep an eye out.
Hang on, Eddie!
Hold on, okay?
We're going home.
You wanna go home, don't ya?
Eddie! Look at me!
Hey! Look at me!
Look at me! Eyes open!
That's one of ours...
Captain?
I don't remember
none of this...
I figure what was left of me...
landed in about
a thousand places.
Including here.
This is where you're buried?
That's a fancy way
of saying it, but yeah.
This was my 'funeral'...
Smitty, Morton... I never
saw them at the hospital.
When I got home,
I didn't open mail.
I didn't ask questions.
I just wanted to forget.
You've been here all this time?
Waitin' for you.
That's what the Blue Man said.
Well, he was, too.
But he had something
to teach you...
and now he's moved on.
And I'm fixing to do the same.
So...
What are you here?
Sacrifice.
I made one.
You made one.
But you had the wrong
idea about yours.
You got angry. Kept thinking
about what you lost.
You didn't get it.
Sacrifice ain't something
to be ashamed of.
It's something
to be proud of.
If people stop sacrificing
for one another...
they lose what
makes them human.
It's the noblest thing we do.
But you lost everything.
Well, that's the thing
about sacrifice.
Sometimes when you think
you're losing something...
you're really just passing
it on to someone else.
Forgive me about the leg?
That's what I was waiting for.
- Captain.
- Yeah?
Why this place?
I mean, you can choose
anywhere to wait... right?
Well, I died knowing almost
nothing but war.
I wanted to see what
the world looked like...
before we started
killing each other...
Before war. But this is war.
Our eyes ain't
the same, soldier.
This is what I see.
By the way, I don't smoke.
That was all in your eyes, too.
Who smokes in heaven?
This is yours...
Well...
Good luck.
Wait...
Wait. The little girl
at the pier, did I save her?
I can't remember.
I only felt...
her hands. Her little hands.
I just wanna know, that's all.
I can't tell you.
But someone can.
Come on! Let's get some
ice off the truck!
C'mon, Eddie!
Strike now, you can
hit it, let's go!
Give it a ride, Eddie!
Murder the ball!
Eddie can't hit it past
the first sewer!
Strike him out.
Go kid.
Keep going, kid.
Go! Keep going!
Slide! Slide!
Got these for you.
You should call her.
She waited for you, Eddie.
Your brother Joe called.
He starts that
sales job tomorrow...
Your father says there might be
some work at Ruby Pier.
Help you get some money
for engineering classes.
Not Ruby Pier.
What's that?
I ain't working at Ruby Pier.
All those people I know...
I don't feel like it, Ma. OK?
Yeah ok.
Shut the door, will ya?
Digby rocks back and fires,
here's a strike called...
and the count
is strike one on him...
He just needs a little time.
He needs to get off his high
horse, that's what he needs.
Working at the pier ain't good
enough for him?
Stop it! After what
he's been through.
How the hell you know
what he's been through?
- He don't even talk.
- Look at him.
Do you ever look at him?
Something awful
happened over there!
Well, something awful
happens every day.
I go now.
Get up, and get a job!
Go to bed, Pop.
Get up, and get a job!
You're drunk, Pop.
Get up, and get a job!
That it, you think
you're better than me?
Get up, get a job,
get up, get a job...
Enough!
See? You ain't so hurt.
You ain't so hurt,
and you ain't so tough...
not so I can't whip you
like I used to.
No more...
No more...
Eddie's third heaven was
a place he'd never seen before.
His body was decaying...
and his soul
was growing restless.
Is it fixed?
I'm here, Pop! I'm here!
Look at me!
I'm here! Look at me!
- Look at me!
- He can't hear you.
Don't be angry.
My father's in there!
Well, he's not really here.
It's only his spirit,
safe from harm.
That's part of my heaven.
Why does my father
have to be safe for you?
Would you like me to explain?
No.
- Where are you going?
- I wanna go home...
- Come with me.
- No.
Edward...
Can I see earth again?
I'm afraid not.
Then can I go back, to my life?
Can I promise to be better?
Why do you want to go back?
Why? Why?
Because you... this...
none of it makes no sense
to me, that's why.
Heaven. Where are the people...
you're supposed
to see in heaven...
My brother... my brother
died before me...
my mother...
I had friends...
I can't even remember
my own end.
There was this little girl.
The cart was falling...
I felt her little hands...
- And that was when I...
- Passed away?
Went to the other side?
Met your maker?
Died.
What do you remember? About
that moment when you died?
Floating.
And colors. Colors like
I'd never seen.
No offence lady,
but I don't know you.
But I know you...
if you have a spare moment
for me, now...
The Seaside...
I remember this old place.
They tore it down years ago...
There I am...
I was pretty.
- You worked here?
- Yes, why?
You don't seem...
the waitress type.
Well, I wasn't always
well-to-do.
My family was poor.
Like most.
I left school early
to work.
We all, my sisters and I.
Until we married.
I'd held up the longest.
Until Emil.
He came to the diner
every morning.
And he ate such big breakfasts.
'Oh, what a big appetite
he has! ' I thought.
But Emil's appetite was
for more than just food.
Well, I was pretty
in those days.
And Emil...
he was so charming
and adventurous.
And rich.
Oh, my what a big
fortune he had.
You've seen these pictures?
They were in the old files
in the workshop.
Most of it was before my time.
Things that come before
your time can still affect you.
Even if they are
in the 'old files'...
He loved those
seaside fun parks.
He asked me to
marry him in one.
When I said yes...
he promised he would capture
that moment forever.
So he built his monument...
a place where children could
always be children...
and adults never
had to grow up.
He brought in animals,
and clowns...
a carousel from France, and a
Ferris Wheel from Germany...
and his piece-de-resistance...
the entrance.
Oh, it was grand!
'Sweetheart' he said...
'everyone who comes
through these gates...
will have to pass
under your gaze.'
I don't understand.
The name!
Weren't you ever curious
about the name?
The place where you worked?
Where your father worked?
All those years?
Ruby Pier?
Up here.
I am Ruby.
Man, this feels weird...
Maybe this is something...
Lemon Fizz...
Damn! A Bronze Star!
This ain't right.
Forget these insurance people.
Bad enough what happened.
Yeah let him rest in peace.
Lay off the kid, already!
That's enough!
Don't you tell me what's enough.
He's gotta learn a lesson.
Dad, please, don't,
no please don't do it...
- Stop it!
- Quiet!
No, Dad, I promise, I won't
do it again, please, stop...
- Oh my lord.
- What's that smoke?
No, don't do this...
don't do this!
What is it?
I remember this fire.
Burned down half the park.
In those days, everything
was made of lathe and tar.
Our pier was like
a matchbook...
I begged Emil not to go.
But of course he went.
He wanted to save
his gift to me.
They say he was...
trying to save
the grand entrance...
with my painting on it...
when it collapsed.
There was no insurance.
That was my Emil.
The risk taker.
That one night,
we lost everything.
But they rebuilt the park.
I remember...
Someone else, not us.
Emil was in the hospital
for months.
It took most of our savings.
Even so, he didn't want to
sell it. Can you imagine that?
But I sold it.
To a rich railroad man.
He kept the name.
I didn't care.
We moved away...
and I tended to my
beloved husband...
and I nurtured
one impossible wish.
What wish was that?
That he'd never
built that place.
I had that thought
a few times myself.
I had dreams when I was a kid.
Thought I'd be an engineer.
But my father used to tell me...
'the world is divided into
somebodys and nobodys, Eddie...
and there's
a lot more nobodys'.
He made sure
I was one of them.
Eddie, your father
is not the reason...
that you never left Ruby Pier.
Oh no? What is?
You still have two more
people to meet, dear.
No, lady. I can meet
a thousand people...
that ain't gonna change.
That pier...
that dumb job, was the last
trick he pulled on me.
How?
By dying.
Eddie?
Eddie!
It's your father!
He collapsed. They took him
to the hospital.
Oh, god. It's my fault!
It's my fault!
Her fault? He came
home one night...
four in the morning,
soaking wet...
probably drunk as a skunk.
And he gets pneumonia.
And it was her fault?
But that's how he was,
my old man.
You were always the one
doing something wrong.
Never him.
I took over his shifts while
he was in the hospital.
I worked nights, weekends,
so he wouldn't lose his job.
And then he died on me.
My mother never did accept it.
She kept talking to him
like he was still alive.
One night, I went
over to see her...
I said, 'Ma, you want I should
put these dishes away? '
No, Eddie.
Your father will do it.
Ma...
Dad's gone.
Gone where?
I moved back in here
the next week.
And I took that job
to be around...
to take care of my mother.
I became my old man...
And I never left.
What's happening?
You don't really know
how your father died.
What are you talking about?
What's he doing here?
He's been fired. Drinking.
He came looking for your father.
But your father wasn't here.
Your mother is going
to get dressed...
to help him
find your father.
No... don't you move,
you bastard!
- This happened long ago.
- No!
What are you doing? No!
You don't want to do this!
What the hell is going on?
Come here!
- I'm all right...
- What did he do?
- I'm alright... I'm alright...
- What did he do?
I'm alright.
Don't do it! Don't!
Why didn't he let him drown?
- Why didn't he kill him?
- He wanted to.
But years ago, they fought
in the war together.
Mickey helped him
get his first job.
Your father held loyalty
in very high regard.
In the end, it mattered
more than his rage.
So he saved a life...
instead of taking one.
Pneumonia...
He fought the ocean
for a long time.
Sometimes, he would cry out.
For your mother.
For your brother.
Or for you.
How do you know that?
There were two
patients to a room.
Your father died in the middle
of the night.
When I found out
where he had worked...
I felt like someone of
my own family had died.
Again, I cursed Ruby Pier.
I wished I could undo any harm
it had ever caused.
That wish formed my heaven.
I don't understand.
This old diner?
This old diner
is more than a place.
It's a time.
When things were simpler.
But those people inside?
They were all hurt.
Well...
Accidents. Fights.
Fires.
I would have none of it.
My heaven would
be a place where...
anyone who ever suffered
from Ruby Pier...
even for a moment
would be safe forever.
Your father, too.
- I hated him, you know.
- I know.
He was hell on me as a kid.
And even worse
when I got older.
Once he couldn't
hit me no more...
he stopped talking
to me altogether.
Eddie.
Anger is a poison.
It eat us inside.
We think by hating someone
we hurt them...
but hatred is a curved blade.
And the harm
we do to others...
we also do to ourselves.
Why is everything so different
than I thought?
Well, when you first
arrived here...
do you remember
how you felt?
I had... no pain.
No worry.
No hate.
That's because no one
is born with anger.
We build it over the years,
with the things we don't say...
with the things we bury.
When we die,
the soul is freed of it...
Free to see the truth.
So, what do I gotta do?
You need to forgive
your father.
Dad?
I'm here now...
I saw what happened.
I didn't understand you.
I still don't. You beat me.
You humiliated me.
I was your son!
Look at me, Pop...
I'm older than you...
I'm didn't know your life.
I didn't know you.
But I understand now.
I'm letting it go. All right?
Do we let it go?
I forgive you, OK?
You hear me?
I forgive you dad...
I forgive you.
It's fixed.
It's fixed.
It's fixed.
How old was the deceased?
I dunno.
It was his birthday.
What can you tell me about...
that I can share with
the other mournings.
You mean about Eddie?
About what was he like?
He was great.
You know, he'd do little things
for you sometimes...
give you some money,
help you out.
Don't get me wrong, he was
a tough old goat.
Everything had to be safe.
'Make it safe, Dom.'
'Grease them tracks, Dom.
Tighten them bolts, Dom.'
How about... personally?
Personally?
I know Eddie loved
his wife very much.
She gave him
this watch once.
One of those with
a ferri wheel o it.
He had never took it off.
Of course,
I never met her.
To the beautiful bride,
Marguerite...
and to the lucky groom,
Eddie, my kid brother...
who figured out you can get
a restaurant cheap...
on Christmas eve!
To the bride and groom
everyone!
To the bride and groom!
I'm sorry we couldn't
afford more...
It's all I ever wanted.
Come on, Eddie.
We love this song.
- Ah, please...
- No, I can't...
You know
I can't move around.
Alright... alright.
- They're staring at me.
- I don't care.
I don't care.
You're alive, and you're here.
And I love you.
I don't worry
Whenever skies
Are gray above
Gotta pocketful of rainbows
Gotta a heart full of love
Mister heartache
I found a way
To make you believe
Gotta a pocketful of rainbows
Happy birthday honey!
Kiss me extra tender
Hold me extra tight
'Cause I'm saving
Your sweetness
For a lonely night
No more teardrops
Now that I found a love so true
Honey...
It's not easy finding a watch
with a Ferris Wheel, you know.
So, you like it?
Of course I like it.
- You see?
- Yeah, sort of...
One of this will help you
to become a manager.
That's what it make.
Eddie?
- Oh, hello, Joe.
- Marguerite...
Hey, honey.
When did you start to work
at the old pier?
It's just a part time.
Joe is managing to
make me a manager.
- Ain't it swell?
- Ain't nothing.
Oh that's great, Joe.
Hey, Eddie come out here
for a second, will you?
Back to the force.
Happy birthday,
Mr. Eddie!
I could never wear
something like that.
If you did, the fellas wouldn't
look at anyone else.
Eddie?
Eddie!
- You got the card?
- Card?
- The insurance card.
- Yeah, I got it.
Wait here, I get you.
Thanks.
Look... I see it from here.
What honey?
The ferris wheel?
Home...
Want some water?
Here...
here, take some.
It's good for you to have water.
You're my fourth person?
For the bitter and the sweet.
For the bitter and the sweet.
For the bitter and the sweet?
For the bitter and the sweet.
It can't be...
Can it be... Marguerite?
For the bitter and the sweet?
Your hair. It's white.
I can't stop staring.
I'm sorry.
Eddie.
Have you forgotten so quickly
what I look like?
I never forgot that.
All weddings.
That was my choice.
I can go from one to another,
all over the world.
When the groom lifts the veil,
when the bride takes the ring...
it never changes.
They always believe their love
will break all the records.
Did we have that
at our wedding?
We had an accordion player.
Your leg...
It's getting worse, it was
good when I got here.
So... you... went through
this whole thing, too?
- You met five people?
- Yes.
And it made a difference?
It made all the difference.
And then I came here
to wait for you.
My sweetheart.
How much do you know
since you died?
Well, I remember everything
that happened...
when we were together.
And now I know why it happened.
And I know that you
loved me dearly.
But I don't know
how you died.
There was this little girl.
One of the rides a new one...
not like the ones
we used to have...
everything goes a million
miles an hour now...
but this ride, I never trusted
it, it drops a cart, see...
and somehow the cable,
it snapped...
I don't know how,
it just snapped...
and this little girl,
she was underneath it...
and I went to push her
out of the way...
I grabbed her hands, and then...
that's all I remember...
I felt her little hands and
then everything went black.
I tried, I tried, but I don't
know...
if I failed...
I ain't talked this much
since I been here.
Oh, God, Marguerite...
I can't say...
I can't say...
- What?
- I missed you so much.
I'm a soldier.
I'm a soldier.
Are you OK, Eddie?
Yeah...
it's nothing, honey...
That dream again?
You want me
to fix you something?
- It's four in the morning.
- It's all right I don't mind...
Get some sleep, honey...
What happened
during the war?
- You never told me.
- I couldn't tell you.
We had to survive. We did
what we had to do, I guess.
But I was never the same.
It was like...
all the things I had wanted,
I couldn't see 'em anymore.
I felt stuck... I should have
made us a better life.
I should of gotten us
out of there, the pier...
I loved the pier.
I lost myself...
I'm sorry.
No.
Marguerite?
Do you think God
knows I'm here?
Of course.
Why do you ask?
I dunno. I guess part of my life
I was hiding from him...
And the rest?
The rest I just figured
he didn't know I existed.
The wine, wine's good, huh?
Were you sorry about anything?
With us, I mean?
I was sorry we couldn't
have children.
We had lots of 'em
around, though.
And you?
Were you sorry about
anything with us?
Yeah. I was sorry
it didn't last longer.
- I'll make some tea.
- I'll get it.
You had to live without love
for many years didn't you?
You felt that it was
snatched away.
That I left you too soon.
You did leave too soon.
There was a reason to it all.
What reason?
You died.
You died and
you lost everything...
And I lost everything...
I lost the only woman
I ever loved.
No you didn't.
I was right here.
And you loved me anyhow.
Lost love is still love, Eddie.
It takes a different form,
that's all.
You can't hold their hands...
you can't tousle their hair.
But when those senses weaken,
another one comes to life.
Memory.
Memory becomes your partner.
You hold it.
You dance with it.
Life has to end, Eddie.
Love doesn't.
- I never wanted anyone else.
- I know.
- I'm still in love with you.
- I know. I felt it.
You felt it? Here?
Even here.
I want to show you something.
I was saving this one.
Dance with me, Eddie.
May I ask you something?
How come you look
the way you looked...
the day I married you?
Because I thought you
would like it this way.
Can you change it?
Change it? To what?
To the end.
But I wasn't so pretty
at the end.
Can you?
I don't want go on.
I want to stay here.
No...
Not yet...
Don't take her again!
Don't take her again!
Don't take her again!
Tala.
Tala.
Tala?
Baro.
Baro.
Saya.
Saya.
Loser.
Loser.
Washing.
Washing.
Like our Inas do.
Inas?
Mommies.
Where are your Mommies?
These?
These are pipe cleaners.
I keep 'em for
the kids at the Pier.
Here...
Look, see...
There.
You like that, huh?
You burn me.
What did you say?
You burn me.
You make me fire.
I don't understand...
My Ina say hide.
Hide in nipa.
My Ina say she come back.
What were you hiding from,
little girl?
Sundalong.
Soldier.
Come out!
I'm a soldier!
Tala...
Why are you in Heaven?
You burn me
you make me fire.
You were the shadow...
the shadow in the hut...
Ina say she come back.
Ina say Tala be safe.
You burn me.
Not safe.
Oh, God, oh no...
I killed you...
I killed you...
Forgive me dear Lord,
forgive me...
all this time...
those dreams.
Forgive me!
I didn't know...
I didn't know...
I didn't know...
why didn't I know...
No... No...
You wash me.
You wash me.
You wash me like Inas do.
I don't know how...
Five.
Five?
You're five years old?
You're my fifth person...
Why are you sad?
Why am I sad?
Where? Here?
On Earth?
I was sad because...
I didn't do anything
with my life.
Because...
I always felt trapped by
the things that happened...
I wasn't where
I was supposed to be.
Do you understand that?
It is where
you supposed to be.
Where? Ruby Pier?
Fixing rides?
Why?
Why was I supposed
to be there?
Children.
You keep them safe.
You make good for me.
Every day.
You make good for me.
Is where you are
supposed to be...
Eddie Main'nance.
- Tala?
- Tala.
There was a little girl.
At the pier. The day I died.
Do you know who
I'm talking about?
Did I save her? Just tell me.
Did I pull her out of the way?
No pull. Push.
You push her away.
Big thing fall.
You keep her safe.
No... I felt her hands...
I couldn't have pushed...
I felt her little hands...
Not her hands.
My hands.
I bring you to heaven.
Keep you safe.
All the accidents
Eddie had prevented...
all the lives
he had kept safe.
He saw them all.
And all their children...
and all their
children's children...
there because of the simple
things that he did...
day after day.
This is the story
of a man named Eddie...
who lived and died...
and would one day himself
share the secret of heaven:
That each life
affects the other...
and the other
affects the next...
and the world
is full of stories...
but the stories
are all one.