Dooley mutilates Lisey with the can opener. He then tells her that she has until 8:00 PM to get in contact with Woodbody and arrange for him to take Scott’s files. He warns her not to involve the police. Lisey passes out from the pain.

When Lisey wakes up, she has a note pinned to her shirt with the same warning from Dooley. She sees that Dooley has upturned the cedar box and left its contents on the floor. She sees a yellow piece of fabric, which is a sample from the afghan shawl that her mother made for them after their wedding. She begins crawling toward the box. 

As she does so, more pieces of the memory from their honeymoon come to her. At one point, Lisey remembers being transported from beneath the yum-yum tree to another place, one that seemed “tropical,” but only for a few seconds. As she reaches the box and holds the yellow scrap, she is transported back to a memory from December 1995, 16 years into their marriage.

In the flashback, Scott’s agent has planned several speaking engagements for him, but Scott cancels them all that winter, insisting that he is sick. Over the next few weeks, he drinks every night, as Lisey finds hidden bottles of liquor and empty beer bottles. After Christmas, he seems better, and Lisey thinks that he is writing his new novel; instead, he is writing nonsensical poems and stories. One night, she finds him in the spare bedroom, wrapped in the yellow afghan and watching television. He tells her to look out the window, and the two watch the northern lights together for several moments. The following morning, Lisey finds Scott still in the chair, but he is in a state of catatonia.

In the present, Lisey questions how she could not remember finding Scott like that until now. However, she acknowledges that all the memories are tied together from that time, and remembering one would have required remembering everything, including Scott’s dark past. Finally, she forces herself to acknowledge that the long boy and the dark place he comes from are real as she weeps on the floor of the study.

Lisey forces herself to remember the night after sitting under the yum-yum tree at The Antler. In the flashback, while lying in bed, she asks Scott more questions about his past. She wonders how Paul healed so quickly and about the tropical place they went to for a few moments under the tree. Scott tells her that, in order to help Paul, he had to take him to Boo’ya Moon.

The narration begins alternating between Lisey remembering on the floor of the study, Scott telling her the story in bed at The Antler, and the story itself in the past when Paul died. Scott insists that Paul’s death was not murder; instead, their father killed him as a form of “euthanasia” because of “the bad-gunky” (276).

One December, when Paul was 13 and Scott was 10, Scott woke up one morning shortly before Christmas. When he went downstairs, Paul immediately attacked him. He could tell by looking into Paul’s eyes that he was not truly there, as his eyes were completely white. Scott yelled for his father, then ran away from Paul. When Paul managed to grab him, Scott could feel him about to bite him, when suddenly his father hit Paul over the head several times with a shovel. Sparky insisted that Paul’s mind could not be brought back. He made Scott carry Paul into the cellar, where they tied him to the wall with chains. Over the next three weeks, they kept Paul tied up. Scott went down to give him food each day and could tell that Paul had not improved; instead, he aggressively yelled at Scott and tried to attack him, stopped only by his chains.

After a few weeks, Scott tried to take Paul to Boo’ya Moon to help him, as he had done in the past when Paul was injured. He tried twice, and both times he failed. He sat with his father at the top of the stairs, looking down at Paul. Sparky spoke kindly when he told him that they would need to kill Paul if he didn’t recover soon, as he had managed to move the steel beam he was tied to; either his body would fail from malnourishment, or he would break free and kill them. Scott asked for one more try to take him to Boo’ya Moon. He argued that, because Paul was unconscious, he couldn’t take him. He proposed a plan where Paul could be partially drugged. His father agreed and got the rifle to watch from the stairs.

Scott approached Paul. His eyes were slightly open, and Scott could see that they were still completely white. He got close enough to touch him, then tried to will himself to Boo’ya Moon. For a moment, he thought it was going to work, but then Paul woke up. He began choking Scott. Sparky came up from behind Paul, pulled him off Scott, then shot and killed him. He questioned how they could bury him in the hard, winter earth, and Scott offered to take him to Boo’ya Moon.

In the flashback in The Antlers, Paul takes Lisey into Boo’ya Moon. They appear on Sweetheart Hill, named by Paul, which is covered with lupin plants. 

In the present, Lisey hears Deputy Alston yell to her from the bottom of the barn. She assures him that everything is fine, and he reminds her to keep her cellphone with her. Lisey wants to stop remembering, telling herself that it is too much to bring into the present. Nevertheless, she tells herself that, in 1996, she went to get Scott from Boo’ya Moon. She remembers finding him in his catatonic state at home, then hugging him and willing him to take her there.

In the present, Lisey makes her way to the house. As she cleans her wounds, she tells herself that she will be the one who has to stop Dooley. She is reminded of Scott’s acronym, SOWISA, and goes to her bedroom, where she finds the shovel. She lies on her bed with the yellow afghan and the shovel, then forces herself to remember her first visit to Boo’ya Moon.

In the flashback, as Scott shows Lisey around Boo’ya Moon, she thinks of him as a child in his excitement. They spend several hours there, mostly lying together on Sweetheart Hill. Lisey reminds herself that she is the first person he has been able to share this with since Paul died. As dark approaches, Scott shows Lisey Paul’s grave. He warns her that the “laughter” will start soon from Fairy Forest; it belongs to dangerous creatures.

As dark falls, Lisey notes how the purple of the lupin turns darker, and shadows begin to form. She spots a nearby sign that reads, “To the Pool” (325). Scott explains that Paul wrote it once. The sound of laughter from the forest interrupts his story. Scott holds Lisey and asks for her help going home, and she imagines being back in the bed at The Antler.

In The Antler, Lisey thinks back to the pool. She knows that Scott often talked about it at his lectures as a source of creativity, but she—and everyone else—always thought it was a metaphor.

In the present, Lisey wills herself to go back to Boo’ya Moon. She takes the silver shovel and the yellow square of the afghan, then closes her eyes and blocks out the present. When she opens her eyes again, she is on Sweetheart Hill, and it is just after twilight. She follows the sign for the pool and takes the path through the Fairy Forest. She hears distant laughter but ignores it. Her mind flashes back to 1996 when she went to Boo’ya Moon to find Scott.

In the flashback, Lisey makes her way through the forest. Although she hears the laughter in the distance, she feels comforted by Boo’ya Moon, thinking of it as “home” even though she had only been there for an extended time once before. She thinks of the pool as “the pool of life,” which everyone draws from, but which tempts people into “giving in” (338) because of its beauty and serenity.

Lisey arrives at the pool. On its shore is a white beach. There are dozens of benches surrounding it. There are 50-60 people there, some sitting, some on the beach, and some wading in the water. Most of them are wrapped in white shrouds. She spots Scott and starts to call out, but something tells her that she needs to be respectful and quiet. As the orange moon comes into view in the sky, Lisey is transfixed by its beauty. She remembers dreams she had as a child, where she would float on a magic carpet and feel at peace. She falls into the dream, then forces herself back out in her urgency to find Scott. She wakes up and realizes that she is on one of the benches and that several hours have passed.

Frantic, Lisey searches for Scott and finds him on a bench because of the yellow afghan he still has across his legs. She goes to him and pleads with him to come home with her. Initially, he doesn’t answer, then he tells her to leave without him. Lisey grows angry, insisting that she can’t live without him. She takes the afghan, then tells him that she is going to go back through the Fairy Forest to the hill. Scott tries to stop her, insisting it’s too dangerous. She ignores him and heads toward the path, stopping partway to see if Scott is following her, but he isn’t. She contemplates whether to force him to come, leave without him, or stay with him. She decides that he will not let her go alone and continues toward the path. Finally, he calls out to her.

In the present, Lisey speaks aloud about Scott calling to her and is scolded by a woman in the pool. She wades into the water, submerging herself to heal the lacerations on her chest.

In the flashback, Lisey hears Scott call out. She ignores him, continuing to the path and hoping that he will save her. Just when she reaches the path, Scott puts his arms around her and urges her to be quiet. Nearby, she senses movement and knows that it is the long boy. She sees a massive side of bruised, scabbed flesh. She senses its thoughts as it looks at them as strangers; she is overwhelmed by fear. She wonders how Scott has lived with the long boy his entire life and knows that he is anchored by two things: His writing and her. Scott urges Lisey to think of their home so they can leave, but it doesn’t work. He tells her that the afghan is anchoring them there, as it “doubled” and exists both in the real world and in Boo’ya Moon, so they can’t take it with them. Lisey drops it, then successfully transports them.

Lisey returns to Boo’ya Moon in the present as the water begins to heal her wounds. She remembers Scott’s words that she will get a drink at the end of the bool and realizes that she needs to drink from the pool. She does so and instantly feels the bruises on her face begin to heal. She then feels the urge to take a second drink and does so. She makes her way out of the water as she hears Scott’s voice saying her name.

Scott’s words send Lisey back into the past. In the flashback, she asks if the long boy will come for them, but Scott assures her that it never has. She asks if he will stay with her now, and Scott assures her that he will do his best, though he can’t promise that he will never be drawn to Boo’ya Moon again.

Lisey wakes up in her bed in the present. She knows that she will never hear Scott’s voice again. She grieves, crying in her bed for several minutes. When she finishes, however, she feels better than she ever has and is prepared to fight.