NOS4A2

Snowmen wave to Wayne as the Wraith passes. His grandmother appears in the car again and says that he is not trying to fight hard enough. She says the sky is false, but this doesn’t make sense to him. He asks why she wants to talk now, since she ignored him when she was alive. He pushes her out of the car.

When Wayne looks back, he sees what he thinks is a broken bottle in the road, lying where he pushed his grandmother out. Manx looks younger. Wayne feels feverish and achy. When he asks if Manx is eating him, Manx says the car makes them both better, because “it runs on gasoline and bad intentions” (715). Wayne notices that an old scar on his thumb is gone. Manx explains that he can’t get to Christmasland alone, and that without a passenger, the Wraith is an ordinary car. He also says that no one would ever want to leave Christmasland, where there is no pain, but there is also no memory of pain. Wayne asks if he can have a last meal before they go. He wants an ear of corn and a real beer.