Part Two: December 5-8, 1973 Summary

Mary is gone. Bart sits in the living room, watching TV. He pours himself another drink, thinking about how his life is like a new ride at Disneyland called Self-Pity Land. The night before, he'd seen a public service announcement, where Virginia Knauer said that the blender is one of the largest energy consumption devices, next to electric heaters. He turned his on and left it going until the motor finally died, just for spite. If he'd had electric heaters, he would have turned those on, too.

He'd called Mary the previous evening, begging her to come home, but she'd refused. He cries.

A habit he's adopted is to stop at the platform put up to see the road construction. While there, he looks down, taking note of their progress, watching his life slip away. This afternoon...