I became a writer to escape the despair of the world and enter the world of hope I create with my imagination.
— But it will be, Regina. I have faith in you. You will figure out a way eventually.
— That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm not sure I can figure it out.
— I can't help but think you're avoiding me.
— Well. Not very well, it seems.
— You're upset because of what I said that I'm still in love with you. I suppose I should never have told you, not after I asked you to find a way to save my wife.
— That's not why I'm avoiding you.
— Then why can't you even look me in the eye?
— Because I don't know how to tell you the truth.
— You know you can tell me anything.
— I've read every spell book in my prossession, experimented with every potion in my vault. I even tried to defeat the Snow Queen so I could force her to reverse the spell. But nothing I do seems good enough.
— But it will be, Regina. I have faith in you. You will figure out a way eventually.
— That's what I'm trying to tell you. I'm not sure I can figure it out.
And happy endings always start with hope.
Don't put all your hopes and desires on the same plane, buddy.
— When I was overseas... the rats were awful. It got so bad that... we had to make our own rat traps in the barracks. A ramp leading up to some bait strung over a bucket of water. The rats would run up the ramp, fall in, and drown. Painlessly. But if you filled the water too high, they would swim around for hours... suffering... because they had hope. But they never had a chance. Just like everyone at the mercy of your system.
— Hope is what our entire society is built on.
— False... hope. I would rather live in chaos than a world controlled by you.