Summary

It snows and the daylight gets short. Sweetland remembers what it was like when electricity first came to the island. He remembers when Loveless drank kerosene as a baby, which was supposed to explain his odd behavior. Sweetland keeps busy as best he can and tries to conserve his kerosene. He does various chores. His ATV is almost out of gasoline.

The dog keeps him company at night, but spends the days on his own. Since Sweetland goes to bed very early, he finds himself waking in the middle of the night. To pass time during his insomnia, he counts various things and traces family trees in his head. He also tries to remember details of information Jesse told him. When he thinks of Jesse, however, his grief makes him get out of bed to avoid the thoughts. Sometimes he goes over...