River’s message on Bill Richert’s answering machine

“Hello, Bill. If you’re asleep, please, by all means, ignore this message. But, in fact, if you are awake, then you’d better not ignore me…I had the most amazing day. It was just beautiful, the things I learned, through the pain and misunderstanding, and through being displaced, discombobulated. I come out on my last day of work as a triumphant failure. I stand here; need not I die nor I need drink, for I know that my soul will keep. And, who’s to say he or she is the one, for I to know from where it has begun…Doctor Bill..Where am I coming from? Who cares? Do I need to know where they’re coming from to get along with them? No, I accept them. But, I come from a place that is foreign, a place where no other eyes see…The stuff is so vague…In case.

And, did you know that? There is. A wait. Not. No. Sure. But maybe. That doesn’t matter. All those words. All those broken phrases. They don’t mean anything. But, where was the point?

    [Then, through the speaker can be heard a little voice crackling, saying:]

      You have missed the point. But, don’t take it upon yourself. Don’t carry that weight. It’s not your fault…I would say that it’s safe to guess that people simply don’t understand.[Beep.]”

        “It’s sometimes hard to understand what he meant,” says Bill. But still, Bill relates that he [River] “understood”.