Aerius explains that when Ursula asks him to write “Flashes from the Other World” (390) so that she can resurrect her literary career, he is anxious and afraid. He desperately wants Ursula to return him back to his rabbit form so that he will no longer be plagued by sadness and longing for Jonah. He knows that he needs to produce a manuscript in exchange for Ursula fulfilling this promise, so he agrees, but then feels panicked and trapped.

Eventually, he finds a manuscript of Leonard’s poetry and begins a dual project. In the front of his notebook, Aerius transcribes and changes Leonard’s poetry into prose; he hopes this manuscript might satisfy Ursula when she eventually sees it. Meanwhile, at the back of the notebook, Aerius writes his “true” story—the narrative of the events he has lived through.

On the last day of classes, a beautiful May day, Ursula goes to teach, and Aerius lingers in the garden, enjoying the grass and flowers and reminiscing about Jonah. He sees a stranger looking at him through the gate and greets the stranger, who disappears without responding. A few minutes later, Ursula returns. She and Aerius are chatting in the garden when they hear the sound of the Bunnies approaching (this is the same day that the Bunnies follow Ursula home after beginning to suspect that she has Aerius).

Ursula orders Aerius to hide, and he listens as she speaks with the Bunnies. He is still afraid of them but also finds himself feeling more compassion toward their loss and longing for him. The conversation between Ursula and the Bunnies is worrying to Aerius because he has never explained his past to Ursula, and thus, she does not know that he initially lived in the attic with her students.

After the Bunnies leave, Ursula does not immediately confront Aerius. Later that night, she begins to question him. She is troubled by the accusation that she has stolen Aerius from the Bunnies, but he reassures her that he is her independent creation. Ursula becomes more insistent on seeing his book but Aerius refuses. Later, while they are watching a film together, Ursula tries to grab the notebook to read it, but Aerius snatches it back.

That night, Aerius lies awake and worries. He feels increasingly unsafe in Ursula’s cottage and haunted by the fear that she won’t be able to release him from his human form. Aerius has also had a lingering suspicion that he finally records in writing: He thinks that he may have previously been a rabbit.

Accepting and admitting this truth gives Aerius a sense of liberation and authenticity. However, “I was still lost from this Self. Still lost from the Lost Place” (407), as he remains trapped in human form. Aerius begins to ponder how, when he killed Leonard with the axe, Leonard transformed into a rabbit. He wonders if there might be some connection between violence and transformation.

Aerius falls asleep and awakens to find Ursula sitting in his room, reading the notebook. She is enraged by the account of him having first been created by the Bunnies and accuses him of having made up a story, which Aerius defends as the truth of his experience. However, when Ursula demands that he admit to being hers, Aerius lies and says that he is. He is still hopeful that she will change him back to his Lost Self.

Ursula threatens Aerius with the axe; he is unsure if he will die or be transformed back into his true self if she strikes him. Ursula hears a banging at the door and goes to open it. A group of campus activists who have been protesting the lack of action after the murders in the autumn have come to the door. Aerius hears them explain to Ursula that one of their members glimpsed “the murderer” in her garden earlier that day, and they have now come to demand justice. The activists catch sight of Aerius through the window.

Aerius panics and flees into the night, taking his axe, Pony, and Leonard the rabbit with him. His notebook is left behind. In a parking lot on campus, he happens upon Allan. Finally meeting the real Allan, whom he has been obsessed with killing, Aerius feels an immediate sense of recognition.

Allan seems unconcerned by Aerius’s plan to kill him. He probes into why Aerius feels compelled to kill him, and Aerius feels confused. He has flashbacks to the anger and frustration the Bunnies were experiencing at the time he was created: They were furious at Allan for the feedback he had given them. However, Aerius also feels confusion as he realizes that he does not have any personal antagonism toward Allan. Allan gently points out that Aerius doesn’t have to kill him just because his creators had the desire to do so.

Aerius vacillates over whether to kill Allan; Allan passively awaits his decision. He finally asks Allan to kill him with the axe, hoping this will send him back to his true self. Allan explains that “only your Creator can send you Back” (421). Aerius feels despair, but Allan explains that writing is also a mode of transformation. He suggests that Aerius attend Ursula’s presentation even though Aerius now faces danger from Ursula, the Bunnies, and the campus activists. Allan leaves Aerius and walks away unharmed.

Aerius hides in the rose garden, watching members of the campus community enter the Narrative Arts building for Ursula’s presentation. The campus activists are carrying posters with a vague image of him. Aerius overhears the Bunnies discussing their plans to seize him if they catch sight of him. Aerius is terrified of all the threats but also determined to get his notebook back.

Aerius thinks back to the original plan Ursula had orchestrated for the presentation. She had planned for him to enter backstage, put on a costume, and then wait on stage at a marked spot. Aerius slips inside and follows these steps, donning a rabbit mask located at the spot where he is supposed to stand. Ursula seems surprised but pleased when she sees him in his position, seemingly prepared to go along with the plan for the presentation.

The presentation begins with Ursula on stage at a podium; Aerius is concealed and not yet visible to the audience. Ursula explains how, after a period of writer’s block, she experienced a sudden resurgence of creativity in the autumn. Ursula takes out the notebook and begins to read the first part of the narrative, Aerius’s transcription and adaptation of Leonard’s poetry. The members of the Poetry cohort, who are seated in the audience, recognize the work and begin to loudly accuse her of plagiarism. The Bunnies chime in, claiming that Ursula “steals” from her students.

Ursula responds that she is being falsely accused and is capable of a transformative creativity that extends beyond words. She throws down the book, and a spotlight suddenly reveals Aerius, kneeling on the stage. Struggling to see, he begins to grope for the notebook. As he does so, Ursula looms over him with the axe, preparing to strike. At the last moment, Aerius leaps forward, and Ursula’s blow with the axe narrowly misses him.

The audience erupts in chaos. Terrified that he will be taken captive again, Aerius submits to Ursula, asking her to kill him. She is distracted as hundreds of rabbits suddenly pour into the theater, adding to the chaos. Aerius manages to grab his notebook, and when the lights go out in the theater, he flees.