Chapter 179 Summary

Christopher stays awake until after 3:00 a.m., huddled behind the rain barrel behind the shed. He spends the time watching the sky because when he sees stars he realizes they are hundreds and thousands of light years away. Many of them may not even exist by the time their light reaches Earth. Thinking in such massive terms, he says, makes all of his problems seem negligible— “so small you don’t have to take them into account when you are calculating something.”

Christopher wakes up with early dawn to hear the birds sing the “Morning Chorus.” Shortly after he awakens, he hears his father calling his name, searching for him. He conceals himself further, clutching his Swiss Army knife with the lethal saw blade extended. After he hears his father leave, Christopher comes out of his hiding place and decides he will go...