“A big help you are,” Oversoul Seven said. He’d been around for the entire episode, but Lydia, as usual, wasn’t aware of his presence.

“I thought someone else was here, but I wasn’t sure,” Lawrence said. “I don’t see anyone though.”

“That’s because you don’t know how to really see yet, or you’re afraid to—”

“Well, look here, am I dead or not?” Lawrence asked. “Lydia and I are quite confused about it all. And who are you?”

“Yours was one of the easiest, most proficient transitions I’ve ever seen,” Seven said. “You’re to be congratulated. Most people make much more fuss about it. Of course, you weren’t in pain for any long period or anything. Still, it was very good. You won’t be around long, though. Someone will probably come for you. I’m a … friend of Lydia’s.”

“Really? I thought I knew all her friends,” Lawrence said.

“Who are you talking to, for heaven’s sake?” Lydia asked.

“Don’t you hear him, too?”

“No, I don’t hear anyone but you, and I shouldn’t be hearing you. There!” she got that stiff smile on her face and turned the radio on, loud, to drown out his voice. But Lawrence said, “There’s a state park, Lydia. Drive in there.”

She felt as if she was in some kind of trance, and did as she was directed. She had to pay fifty cents and pass two guards who smiled and said what a great day it was. And Lydia thought, if she was in a trance, or dreaming, how come everything was so vivid?

“I don’t know if this is altogether a good idea,” Oversoul Seven said.

“A man has a right to do what he wants with his own body when he’s finished with it,” Lawrence said. Lydia frowned: Lawrence didn’t sound crazy, or at least no crazier than usual. “There. That way. Turn left,” he said.

She drove past rows of tents and campfires and children playing in the fields, now dark with dusk. A crowd was singing “Someone’s in the kitchen with Dinah,” and the air was full of the smell of hotdogs, steak, and onions. Lydia had given up all attempts to understand what was happening. Somebody—Lawrence?—was telling her what to do anyway, which was just as well, she thought, because she was incapable of making any decisions on her own.

“Further on,” Lawrence directed.

The road became more isolated. Giant fir trees rose into the twilight darkness. They came to a park area of even green grass, dotted with benches. It was empty. “Here, Lydia, pull up,” Lawrence said. “I haven’t much time, darling, I can tell. Hurry.”

She pulled the trailer up as close as she could to the nearest bench.

“Oh, the next one,” Lawrence said. “The view is so much nicer.”