Hello, my name is Forrest, Forrest Gump. Do you want a chocolate? I could eat about a million and a half of these. My momma always said, life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

—Remeber what I told you, Forrest. You're no different than anybody else is. Did you hear what I said, Forrest? You are the same as everybody else. You are no different.

—Mommy, what's vacation mean?
—Vacation?
—Where Daddy went?
—Vacation is when you go somewhere and you don't ever come back.

You know it's funny what a young man recollects. Cuz I don't remember being born. I don't recall what I got for my first Christmas and I don't know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. But I do remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the whole world. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. She was like an angel.

From that day on, we was always together. Jenney and me was like peas and carrots. She taught me how to climb. I showed her how to dangle. She helped me learn how to read, and I showed her how to swing. Sometimes we'd just sit out and wait for the stars.
—Momma's gonna worry about me.
—Just stay a little longer.
For some reasons, Jenney did never want to go home.
—Okay Jenney, I'll stay.

 

—So bye-bye, Jenney! They was sending me to Vietnam. This is a whole other country.
—Listen, you promise me something, okey? Just, if you're ever in trouble, don't try to be brave, just run, okey, just run away.
—Okay. Jenney, I'll write to you all the time.

 

If I'd have known this was going to be the last time me and Bubba was gonna talk, I'd thought of something better to say.
—Hey, Bubba.
—Hey, Forrest. Forrest, why'd this happen?
—You got shot.
Then, Bubba said something I won't ever forget.
—I wanna go home.
Bubba was my best good friend. And even I know that ain't something you can find just around the corner. Bubba was going to be a shrimping boat captain, but instead he died right there by that river in Vietnam.

—Tell us a little bit about the war, man.
—The war in Vietnam?
—The war in Viet-fucking-nam!
—...That's all I have to say about that.
—That's the right-on man. You said it all. What's your name, man?
—My name is Forrest, Forrest Gump.
—Forrest Gump!
—Forrest! Forrest!
—Jenney!

 

—Forrest, we have very different lives, you know.
—I want you to have this.
—Forrest, I can't keep this.
—I got it just by doing what you told me to do.
—Why are you so good to me?
—You're my girl.
—I'll always be your girl.

 

—It's my time. It's just my time. Oh, now, don't you be afraid sweetheart. Death is just a part of life, something we're all destined to do. I didn't know it. But I was destined to be your momma. I did the best I could.
—You did good, Momma.
—Well...I happen to believe you make your own destiny. You have to do the best with what God gave you.
—What's my destiny, Momma?
—You're gonna have to figure that out for yourself. Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest. You never know what you're gonna get.
Momma always had a way of explaining things so I could understand them.She had got the cancer, and died on a Tuesday. I bought her a new hat with little flowers on it.

 

Jenney came back and stayed with me. Maybe it was because she had no where else to go. Or maybe it was because she was so tired cuz she went to bed and slept and slept, like she hadn't slept in years. It was wonderful having her home. Everyday we'd take a walk, and I'd jabber on like a monkey in a tree, and she'd listen about Ping-Ponging and shrimping and Momma making trip up to Heaven. I did all the talking. Jenney most of the times was real quiet. I never really knew why she came back. But I didn't care. It was like olden times. We was like peas and carrots again. Everyday I'd pick pretty flowers and put them in her room for her. And she gave me the best gift anyone could ever get in the wide world. And she even showed me how to dance. And well, we was like family, Jenney and me. And it was the happiest time of my life.
—Will you marry me? I'd make a good husband, Jenney.
—You would, Forrest.
—But you won't marry me.
—You don't want to marry me.
—Why don't you love me, Jenney? I'm not a smart man, but I know what love is.

You've got to put the past behind you before you can move on. That's what my run was all about.

 

—You're a momma, Jenney.
—I'm a momma. His name's Forrest.
—Like me.
—I named him after his daddy.
—He got a daddy named Forrest too?
—You're his daddy, Forrest.

—Hey, Forrest. Were you scared in Vietnam?
—Yes. Well, I don't know. Sometimes it would start raining long enough for the stars to come out. And then it was nice. It was like just before the sun goes to bed down on the bayou. Those, oh, million sparkles on the water. Like that mountain like, it was so clear, Jenny, it looked like it was, two skies, one on top of the other. And then the desert, when the sun comes up, I couldn't tell where Heaven stopped and the earth began. It was so beautiful.
—I wish I could have been there with you.
—You were.

 

You died on a Saturday morning. And I had you placed here under our tree. I don't know if momma was right or if it's Lieutenant Dan.I don't know if we each have a destiny or if we're all just floating around accidentally—like on a breeze...but I think, maybe it's both.Maybe both is happening at the same time. I miss you, Jenney. If there's anything you need, I won't be far away.

曾经，是一段故事。故事里曾经的我们，是自编自导的主演。曾经的时光，都写在曾经的台词里，大段独白，或是只字片语，却成了如今回放着的无声电影。

 

我们说着自己的曾经，用不同的表情。我们大笑着说那些昔日趣事，对现在的朋友。我们感慨着说那些旧时情谊，对过去的老友。我们多半时候却是沉默，当面对的人只剩下自己。于是，更多的曾经，成了一部默剧。

 

我们开始变得安静，当一段曾经不再被共同收藏。太多话语流转在身躯里，蔓延四肢，温存心底。却唯独选择不开口，怕无人应答的清冷空气，凉了回忆。

 

曾经，总是美好。我们翻看曾经的相片，曾经的文字，然后被那些曾经里不假思索的言行、不掺杂质的纯净所感动。于是，我们带着这份感动去寻找那份曾经，在发生过一切曾经的地点。我们拍下新的相片，在曾经的校园；我们写下新的文字，给曾经的朋友。我们用最美的角度和词藻去铺叠那场仿佛浓得化不开的演出，同样不假思索，同样不掺杂质。只是，相片的色彩却不再浓稠，文字的笔触也不再清晰。原来，那是只属于曾经的浓稠，只属于曾经的清晰。原来，也只有曾经，才总是美好。

 

曾经，是一段过去。我们在当下回望，直到当下也归为了曾经。曾经，让过往的美好成了永恒，再大的痛楚也只是一件小小的纪念品。曾经是那样鲜活，我们经历着细枝末节里所有的喜怒哀乐，却在送别曾经后，以为那只是一场恍惚的梦。

 

曾经，或许真的是一场不愿醒来的梦。梦醒时分，我们来不及珍惜，只剩叹息。过往片断一幕幕上演，却像寒风中口里呵出的热气，飘散着没了踪影。

 

曾经，是大衣口袋里的右手。冬日的夜街，空荡荡的手心，温热已经抽离。

 

曾经，是再也无处投递的卡片。每年的圣诞节，舞台剧都会继续。只是扮演过的角色，那些曾经的名字，却定格在稚嫩的嗓音里，戛然而止。

 

这是我们的曾经。它站在遥远的彼岸，静静的，不出声。

 

彼岸，还有曾经的我们。他们喧闹着，用此刻我们这般的频率尽情呼吸。他们奔跑，他们歌唱，他们眺望着未来里自己的模样，却在我们的遥望下，将一段生命的悸动永远缄默在了曾经里。

 

曾经，就这样，像一首诗虔诚的吟诵，像一场雨无痕的潮润。

 

曾经，就这样在琴键上弹奏，指尖掠过，却是无法停驻的拥有。曾经，就这样从窗口外洒落，明暗交错，却是无法握紧的沙流。