I almost fell down a well yesterday, Mom.
Mel [unconcerned]
Uh-huh.
Mel That's nice.
Hmm. So, can I go out? I think it's perfect weather for gardening.
Mel No, Coraline. Rain makes mud. Mud makes a mess.
But, Mom, I want stuff growing when my friends come to visit. Isn't that why we moved here?
Mel Something like that. But then we had the accident.
It wasn't my fault you hit that truck.
Mel I never said it was.
I can't believe it. You and Dad get paid to write about plants, and you hate dirt.
Mel Coraline, I don't have time for you right now, and you still have unpacking to do. Lots of unpacking.
[sarcastically]
That sounds exciting.
[slides her dinner plate away from her]
Why don't you ever cook, Mom?
Mel Coraline, we've been through this before. You dad cooks, I clean, and you stay out of the way. I swear I'll go food shopping soon as we finish the catalog. [slides Coraline's dinner plate back to her] Try some of the chard. You need a vegetable.
It looks more like slime to me.
Well, it's slime or bedtime fusspot. Now what's it's gonna be?
[to her doll-self]
Think they're trying to poison me?
[In the kitchen, around morning… Coraline talks to her parents about her dream of meeting their other versions of themselves while having breakfast]
It was incredibly real, Mom. Only you weren't really you. You were my other mother.
Mel Buttons for eyes, huh? Coraline, you only dreamed you ate all that chicken. Take your multivitamin, at least.
You were in the dream too, Dad. You had wild-looking pajamas and orange monkey slippers.
[chuckling]
Orange? My monkey slippers are blue. Psst! Can you give me some of that magic mud you were talking about? Because I have a terrible case of writer's rash, on my…
Mel [clears throat; sternly]
If the real Charlie Jones wants his pages edited, he better wrap them up ASAP. [Charlie leaves; closes the fridge] Coraline, why don't you go visit downstairs? I bet those "actresses" would love to hear your dream.
Miss Spink and Forcible? But you said they're dingbats!
Mel [Coraline finds some nice-looking orange gloves while Mel buys some school uniforms]
Put them back.
But, Mom, the whole school's gonna wear boring gray clothes. No one will have these.
Mel [sternly]
Put them back.
My other mother would get them.
Mel Maybe she should buy all your clothes.
