Chet Wakeman and Mary Crawford in “Discussions”

What scared you? What did you see?

It's like a walk through a minefield, isn't it?

What is?

Life...y'know, you start out, there's just a few mines---childhood diseases, falls from high places---then you hit adolescence, and there's more mines---drugs, unprotected sex, drunk drivers, lonely kids with guns---and the older you get, the more mines you see...and all you're trying to do now, really, is to get to the other side of the field, but that's not possible, is it? No! because the more you look, the more mines you see and pretty soon you realize that there's nowhere left to step.

Mary...what did you see?

What did I see? [pause] I saw where all the mines were. I saw everything I'd ever done. Everything that'd ever happened to me. I saw where all this would end. That's what Owen saw. That's what destroyed him. I'm not folding like my grandfather did. Did what I see frighten me? Of course it did. Will it stop me? No...everybody dies.