Part 7 — Chapter 5

Summary

• The chapter revolves around a character named Gaspery who is in prison, possibly in a time that is not his own, and reflects upon his life and decisions leading up to his imprisonment.
• Gaspery carves the phrase "No star burns forever" into his cell wall. This is a phrase from the 22nd century, indicating he might be from the future.
• Gaspery spends a lot of time ruminating about the past, particularly the turning point when he went to someone named Zoey’s office with birthday gifts.
• Despite being imprisoned and facing death, Gaspery experiences few regrets and reflects that his action of warning Olive Llewellyn about a coming pandemic was the right thing to do.
• His cellmate Hazelton, a much younger man, asks about the phrase he carved and misinterprets it as a testament of positive thinking. Gaspery doesn't correct him.
• Gaspery has found a sense of calm in prison and enjoys sitting on the edge of his bunk watching the moon through a small window.