Summary

Chapter 5 – “When I got back from the courthouse,” Sean says in narration, “I was pretty shaken up.” In narration, Sean describes his efforts to calm himself; refers to the judge dismissing the case, saying there was actually no case there, “no reason to go forward. Just several sad people and their partially wrecked lives”. Sean adds that he felt the judge’s comments and attitudes were intended to calm and comfort “Carrie’s parents” in some way. He describes making himself a sandwich and cutting up “into manageable pieces so [he] could eat it with a fork”, then going out and picking himself up some videos to watch. This leads him to contemplation of the different types of science fiction and fantasy books of his childhood, both the more positive ones he actually read (featuring the heroic and honorable Conan the Barbarian...