Summary

The narrator used the email message to pinpoint Nigel's location. Taking the "scenic journey" (287) toward Carrier Falls, the narrator stopped at a gas station where a black woman and "ginger man" (288) mistook him for a doctor who had given them free care in the past. Nearing the remote destination, his tire blew out, leaving him stranded with no satellite signal. He felt a momentary desire for a Plum, but instead repeated a phrase taught by his addiction counselor. With limited daylight, the narrator set off into the woods, hearing singing voices. Fearing someone following him, he slipped and fell, accidentally firing his gun. He then noticed a strange animal in the trees, an unrecognizable creature with white fur and a billed mouth, who began chasing him. The narrator spotted a pond “black as a mirror” (292) and jumped into it, swimming until he emerged...