I'm Trying

CLAIRE
Uhm, what is this?

JASON
Oh, come on. A childhood memento.
Let's put it there on the shelf.

CLAIRE
How ‘bout the back of the pantry?

JASON
My brother made it himself.

CLAIRE
Good thing your brother doesn't live here.

JASON
Hey, do you think we could clean out some of the stuff in your closet?

CLAIRE
What stuff? Didn't we make room for all your things? Look, your drafting table fits perfectly over there.

JASON
Honey, what is all this old junk? Do you really need it?

CLAIRE
Just things I want to hold on to.

JASON
Oh, come on. Old birthday cards, ticket stubs, I've never even seen you wear this sweater.

CLAIRE
I want to keep it, okay?

JASON
Hey, let's take the day, just unpack.
We'll both be given more space.
Once everything is in its place.

CLAIRE
Oh my God, Jason.

JASON
What is it?

CLAIRE
You kept this?

JASON
Of course I did.

CLAIRE
Top ten things to do in New York before you leave it.

JASON
The cover story in this magazine.
I threw it in the trash.

CLAIRE
And I said, "Go retrieve it.
Nine of those things are things you've never seen."
Number Ten, eat a bagel.

JASON
That's the one I've done.

CLAIRE
Number Nine, root for the Mets

JASON
Does this go on?

CLAIRE
All the way to Number One.

JASON
Number Eight insists we go to Brooklyn

CLAIRE
To see where they make beer

JASON
Number Seven calls for
CLAIRE
Trapeze lessons

JASON
She grabs my hand, and suddenly we're at the pier.

CLAIRE
They've got a tent set up right by the river.
This whole circus thing, who knew?
You go in a classroom for an hour and they show you what to do.

JASON
Then, one at a time, they make you climb so high into the air.
And as I go up, it's hard not to throw up
But I'm trying.

CLAIRE
Every week we pick a number
And work our way on down the list

JASON
Broadway shows

CLAIRE
Botanic gardens
A tour of City Hall

JASON
There wasn't one we missed.

CLAIRE
Number Three describes some cooking classes
At the Institute Francais.

JASON
I'm allergic to the French, you know.

CLAIRE
He makes a face.
I sign us both up anyway.

JASON
She's got a knack for flipping over omelets.
She becomes the teacher's pet.

CLAIRE
Meanwhile, he's got yoke stuck in his egg whites,
And he's getting quite upset.

JASON
I am not upset.
I'm simply letting breakfast stir my soul.

CLAIRE
So he can't cook.

JASON
But honey, look. I'm trying.

CLAIRE
In my head I draw a map that shows the whole entire city.
I put a mental pushpin at the places where we laugh
Like Number Four, that fancy store

JASON
The salesman who ignored us.

CLAIRE
Or Number Two

JASON
The Zoo

CLAIRE
And that giraffe.

JASON
It was fun you know, to see the city
I would do it all again.
But that was what, a year ago?
And all those places, well.
We haven't been since then.

CLAIRE
I remember when we finally got finished.
The Number One thing to do
I hadn't been to Central Park in ages
So I'm soaking up the view
We're just standing still
The city's silhouette against the sky
And I think, "Why can't this moment last
Instead of slipping into the past."
I want to keep that moment with me all of the time
And heaven knows that I'm –

JASON
Hey, let me be your tour guide this time. I know exactly where to find Number Eleven.

CLAIRE
I'm trying.