How It All Goes Down
XIII
- The real Lettie finally arrives carrying a heavy bucket of water—apparently she and Gran have put her whole ocean into the bucket so they could bring it to him.
- She tells him to hold her hand and step into the bucket, and he obeys. After the day he's had, this is the least strange thing she's asked him to do.
- Surprisingly, when he puts his second foot into the bucket he finds himself totally submerged in water.
- Being in the "ocean" is a surreal, and totally bizarre experience. He feels like he knows everything there is to know about the universe, and he sees Lettie for what she really is. He wants to stay there forever, but Lettie apologizes, saying that he can't because it would destroy him. But it must be cozy, being somewhere where you understand everything, right?
- His head breaks through the surface of the water, and he finds himself in the pond at the Hempstocks', coughing up water—and when he walks out of the water, he's completely dry.
- He and Lettie go up to the house to enjoy some delicious Shepherd's Pie while the ladies discuss how to get rid of the varmints.
- Gran is having a nap, because putting the ocean into the bucket has exhausted her.