Day 1597: May 16, 2026

It’s a glorious day to begin a new book in my Stephen King Journey! Today, I start on my 18th book, 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗵.

It’s one of the shortest of The Dark Tower series and I hear it’s the weirdest. I read it when it first came out over 20 years ago and other than the appearance of a certain famous author in it, I remember absolutely nothing.

Let’s begin!

The subtitle of this book is “Reproduction”.

The previous (retrofitted) subtitles of the first five books are: Resumption, Renewal, Redemption, Regard, and Resistance.

Interestingly, R is the 18th letter of the alphabet. Why didn’t he use “S” instead? 🤔

Starting now on the section titled “Beamquake: 1st Stanza”.

“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺?”

𝘈𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪 𝘴𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬’𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.

Picking up right where Wolves of the Calla left off.

𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 ’𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮’𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦, 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵.

Probably the strangest plot twist from the end of Wolves of the Calla.

𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺.

“𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳,” 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘩𝘢𝘱 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦.”

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩’𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦,” 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥, “𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱—𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴.”

No slow warm-up here. The very first pages are full of anxiety and a loudly ticking clock!

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳-𝘯𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘴: 𝘤𝘢𝘵-𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴.

“Mother naked”? I’ve never heard that phrase before. I’d google it, but… well, ya know.

𝘈𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩), 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥: “𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.”

“𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?”

“𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

“𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳?”

“𝘕𝘰, 𝘣𝘶𝘵—”

𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘢.

The title of this section is “Beamquake” so I guess that’s what they’re experiencing.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘈𝘵 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮, 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦: 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬.

A universe-bridging quake. A very disturbing concept.

𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘹𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘱 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘥-𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. “𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘰𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦!”

𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘶𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. “𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘰𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦, 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦!”

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 ’𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘙𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘰𝘻’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. “𝘈 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮? 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴? 𝘚𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰! 𝘚𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦!”

I finished off this 1st Stanza and am now 7% of the way through Song of Susannah. Not a dull moment in this opening chapter, but plenty of doom & gloom about collapsing beams and Armageddons left in their wakes.

Day 1598: May 17, 2026

Roland and Eddie speak with the Manni at Calla Bryn Sturgis about the “magic” door that they need to use to go hunt for Susannah. Meanwhile, the whole town shakes from a Beamquake – the collapsing of one of the 12 Beams of the Tower.

It was a helluva start to Song of Susannah! I now move onto “The Persistence of Magic: 2nd Stanza”.

“𝘐𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦—”

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨—𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨—𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥.”

Of course, larger forces are at work when it comes to Susannah.

𝘈𝘯𝘥, 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩, 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘯-𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘭𝘧-𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴.

𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯-𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘱, 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 folken 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱, 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣-𝘣𝘰𝘣𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘴, 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴—𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘥𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘈𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥-𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘴, 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘘𝘶𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴.

𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵.
…
𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳. “𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

The Manni give Eddie a short lesson on “magic” with a plum-bob that seemed to have a mind of its own.

And with that, I finish reading for the day. I am now 10% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1599: May 18, 2026

Continuing to read Song of Susannah. The Manni feature prominently in these opening chapters having agreed to use their “magic” to help Roland & gang activate the door in the cave and seek out Susannah.

Today, I complete “The Persistence of Magic: 2nd Stanza”.

𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘺, 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘭𝘺𝘱𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘺, 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵 UNFOUND. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘣 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥, 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.

What about Hightower’s bookshelf that should also be there in the cave? One would think that given the ‘Salem’s Lot revelation that they’d be poring through the other books looking for clues or revelations.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯—𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘒𝘳𝘢 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥. 𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 (𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘪 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳)

It’s these little factoids that King drops about his characters – completely unnecessary, yet entirely and distractingly fascinating! (per the article below, fingernails can grow about an inch a year).

How Long Can Human Fingernails Grow?

https://health.howstuffworks.com

How do you like to wear your fingernails? Whether you prefer them elongated, clipped to the quick or occasionally chewed, you may have wondered how long they would grow if you left them alone. And by “left alone,” we mean for a really, really long time.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘻𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘐𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘈𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘶, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘺. 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳.

Does this portend a possible splitting up of the ka-tet? I suppose if the Fellowship (of the Ring) split up into separate quests, the same is likely to happen here.

𝘏𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥: “𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥’𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴?”

𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘦.

Ah – there’s the bookshelf!

“𝘖𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘣 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. 𝘏𝘦’𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘭.”

A tearful separation between Oy and Jake. This’ll be a tearjerking scene in Flangan’s adaptation for sure.

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘯.

Jake’s powerful “touch” is set to work opening the door with the magic of Manni behind him.

𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯; 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥-𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘴. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘖𝘺, 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘭-𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.

Oops – it was supposed to be Eddie & Roland going through that door into New York!

𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘻𝘻𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱, 𝘢𝘴𝘴-𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸—

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

And with that quite shocking turn of events, I finish reading for the day.

I am now 13% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1600: May 19, 2026

Moving onto “Trudy and Mia: 3rd Stanza” in Song of Susannah.

Jake, Oy, Father Callahan transport through the magic door to NYC on a quest to find Susannah. Eddie and Roland zap over to Maine to find Calvin Hightower and get a real estate deal done.

Which was the exact opposite teams originally planned, and they (especially Eddie) are not too happy about it.

𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟫, 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥-𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘜𝘍𝘖𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴 (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘛𝘝), 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩-𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴—𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘰𝘣 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘺’𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥—𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.

Nobody can introduce a character and scene more efficiently than King!

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰, 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘺𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘩 (𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘵)…

Wait – so where’s the rose now? In the basement of that skyscraper?

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘬𝘫𝘰̈𝘭𝘥 𝘗𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘨𝘴,

“Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza is a 1.59-acre (0.64 ha) public park in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City”

TURTLE BAY!

Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴.
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵; 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘴.

We saw this happen somewhat in Wolve of the Calla when they had todashed to NYC and Susannah/Mia was walking around.

𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 (𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭) 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝟤 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘬𝘫𝘰̈𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯—𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘯, 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘪 𝘎𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘨, 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘵𝘵 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘳. 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴?

“𝘕𝘰,” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

Legs with white feet. Having labor pains but not looking pregnant. Susannah’s transformation in this world is rather odd!

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯; 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯’𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩.

There’s that turtle again!

That’s enough reading for today. I think Trudy is a throwaway character introduced for just this chapter as a creative perspective on Susannah’s/Mia’s grand entrance into New York City.

I am now 16% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1601: May 20, 2026

Susannah/Mia has arrived in NYC in the year 1999 and after growing a pair of legs, mugs the first person she encounters for a pair of shoes. She’s have labor pains but does not appear pregnant in this world. A skyscraper called “Black Tower” now sits were the vacant lot with the rose once was, but the choir of the white can still be heard.

It’s a nutty turn of events as I continue with Song of Susannah and “Susannah’s Dogan: 4th Stanza”.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥.

We’re now back into Susannah’s perspective.

𝘉𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥-𝘶𝘱 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘴 𝘉𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘨, 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦—𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝟣𝘴𝘵, 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟫—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦. 𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥’𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨.

25-30 years after THAT we’re still wondering the same thing, battling the same battles.

𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘰. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘈 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘣𝘰𝘺. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱’𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘻𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

Susannah retreated into herself and imagined a control room (like Jake’s Dogan) for her own body.

But “like a strand of kelp”?

𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦-𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩.

Having flipped all the dials and switches to control her labor pains, it looks like she set herself up to do some comms with the folk back in the Calla.

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰, 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰. 𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥…𝘪𝘧 𝘬𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥—

In Wolves of the Calla, the Mia persona was the demonic baby’s mother/caretaker and was a lot more fearsome than she’s portrayed here. It’s like its a completely different character.

I leave Susannah and Mia and now Detta sitting on a NYC park bench where they hadn’t moved all chapter. They’re having a fine old crazy conversation amongst themselves in front of the turtle fountain.

I am now 20% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1602: May 21, 2026

Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came cover the first four stanzas of Song of Susannah.

The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah — Stanzas 1 – 4

http://twoguysdarktower.blubrry.com

In this episode of Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came, we explore The Dark Tower, Book VI, Song of Susannah, Stanzas 1-4.

Day 1603: May 22, 2026

With Dark Tower Palaver and The Cast of Ka having fallen by the wayside (or just taken too damn long) on their quest to the Tower, the podcast episodes I listen to are less frequent and that allows for faster reading through the books.

Today, though, I pause to take in Kingslingers‘ opening take on Song of Susannah.

Song of Susannah (Part 1)

https://podcasts.apple.com

This week, click your Mejis heels together three times and say “there’s no place like the end of the book!” We’re finishing Wizard and Glass by discussing all 5 chapters of Part 4: All God’s Chillun Got Shoes.

Day 1604: May 23, 2026

Finished off the Kingslingers‘ first episode about Song of Susannah where they revealed they were big fans of the throwaway character Trudy Damascus.

Song of Susannah (Part 1)

https://podcasts.apple.com

This week, click your Mejis heels together three times and say “there’s no place like the end of the book!” We’re finishing Wizard and Glass by discussing all 5 chapters of Part 4: All God’s Chillun Got Shoes.

Day 1605: May 24, 2026

Back to reading Song of Susannah, picking up at “The Turtle: 5th Stanza”. This is a long one, so I’ll be breaking up this chapter over two days.

I last left Susannah & Mia working on their “arrangement” while sitting at a park bench in NYC, trying to control their labor with “the chap” ready to bust out.

Jake, Oy & Fr. Callahan were supposed sent their as well, but we haven’t seen them yet. Roland and Eddie are also supposedly in Maine. Lots still to see!

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯:

𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦.

𝘞𝘩𝘰? 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥?

𝘈𝘺𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺—

𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦.

An intriguing start to this chapter. Who is Mia really and how had she known Jake and Roland? Mia is much more than just another Susannah personality split. She seems to have her own independent agency.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘉𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴—𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦-𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘬. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱, 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰.

A tiny carved turtle found in the lining of the bowling bag carrying the Black Thirteen orb. Odd!

“𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘱.” 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵, 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘩, 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺. “𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘦.”

𝘕𝘰𝘸, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴, 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱. “𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘰̈𝘭𝘥𝘱𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘢? ”

“𝘠𝘦𝘴.” 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘛𝘝 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸…

This turtle carving hypnotized a man who was just passing by and saw what they had pulled out of the bowling bag. Susannah took quick advantage of the situation and implanted a command to get her a nice hotel room.

But I wonder why the little turtle didn’t have any impact on her?

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘯 𝘞𝘺𝘤𝘬, 𝘪𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥.

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘴?”

“𝘠𝘢𝘩?”

“𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦,” 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘱. “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘴?”

“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵.”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵’𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘜𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘺…𝘶𝘮…𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺.”

This use of the sacred turtle was so… bizarre!

And with that bizarre turn into terrapin laxatives, I finish reading for today.

I am now 23% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1606: May 25, 2026

Finishing off “The Turtle: 5th Stanza” in Song of Susannah.

When we last left her, Susannah found a plot turtle inside the bowling bag she’s carrying around and it hypnotized a wandering Swede. She took advantage of the situation and got him to book her a hotel room and commanded him to have regular bowel movements from that day forward.

(I wish I were making this up.)

𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴 (𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘴, 𝘩𝘢-𝘩𝘢?). 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘬𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳…

I could hardly find internet reference to what “kollege kuties” were, but Chat GPT said the following:

“Kollege kuties” is an old-fashioned, slangy phrase meaning attractive college girls or young women associated with college life.

𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘰𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬.

𝘈𝘚 𝘖𝘍 𝘑𝘜𝘓𝘠 𝟣𝘚𝘛, 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟫, 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘕𝘌𝘞 𝘠𝘖𝘙𝘒 𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘡𝘈–𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘒 𝘏𝘠𝘈𝘛𝘛 𝘞𝘐𝘓𝘓 𝘉𝘌𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘌 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘙𝘌𝘎𝘈𝘓 𝘜.𝘕. 𝘗𝘓𝘈𝘡𝘈 𝘏𝘖𝘛𝘌𝘓

𝘈𝘕𝘖𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘙 𝘎𝘙𝘌𝘈𝘛 𝘚𝘖𝘔𝘉𝘙𝘈/𝘕𝘖𝘙𝘛𝘏 𝘊𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘙𝘈𝘓 𝘗𝘙𝘖𝘑𝘌𝘊𝘛!!

I’m not a NYC expert, but I think the Park Hyatt is different than The Plaza and King just blended it all together for purposes of this work.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘺, 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘬 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘵, 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘴𝘢𝘪, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘪.”

The desk clerk, also hypnotized by the talisman turtle, tapped into something deep and dark. A very creepy scene.

I end the reading today with Susannah/Mia checking into a hotel room.

Did this need to be an entire chapter – or would a single paragraph have sufficed? Needless to say, reliving a typical business travel situation didn’t quite make for compelling reading.

I am now 26% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1607: May 26, 2026

Continuing to read Song of Susannah, entering into “The Castle Allure: 6th Stanza”.

Susannah/Mia got checked into a fancy hotel thanks to the hypnotic turtle amulet they found in a bowling bag. But now it looks like they may be ready to travel to an otherworldly place.

“𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦!” 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘸. “𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥!”

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦.

Still puzzled that Mia wasn’t just a separate personality of Susannah, in Detta/Odetta fashion. Mia seems to be a fully formed entity with her own agency!

“𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘢… “𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘞𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦. 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭? 𝘐𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳-𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺? 𝘕𝘢𝘺, 𝘯𝘢𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘴𝘰 𝘺’𝘢𝘳𝘦.”

Very Lovecraftian image.

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘺, 𝘨𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘺, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦, 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴—𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵—𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘖𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴.

Castles: Merlons

https://www.castlewales.com

Battlements (or crenellation) are the parapets of towers or walls with indentations or openings (embrasures or crenelles) alternating with solid projections. Merlons are the saw-tooth effect or the “teeth” of the battlements

“𝘈𝘴𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘴𝘦. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘺𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵.”

Damn, Mia has got some words for Roland!

𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘣𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘏𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘳 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯, 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘈𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦.

“𝘔𝘪𝘢,” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸. “𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸?”

𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵; 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. “𝘈𝘺𝘦, 𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘺, 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥, 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦! 𝘈 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦! 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘦.”

“𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯.”

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸—”

“𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱,” 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘢𝘺𝘦, 𝘩𝘦. 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵.”

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE???

“𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦. “𝘏𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺, 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘰𝘺, 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦. 𝘏𝘦’𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.”

I think I know how this all happened. Back in The Gunslinger, Roland had sex with an Oracle demon. I bet it collected his semen, stored it in a cryogenic demon storage facility and then turkey basted it into Susannah in The Wastelands.

It’s a theory.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘹, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦.

That’s some heavy duty lore right there.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴…𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.”

I am absolutely loving this deep mystical mythology building! This was what I liked most about the prose of the first book, The Gunslinger.

Mia is about to reveal to Susannah how she came to be pregnant with Roland’s child, but that will have to wait until tomorrow for me!

I am now 29% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1608: May 27, 2026

We are firmly in the realm of dark fantasy with Mia and Susannah having a palaver in the mystical and evil realm of Discordia. Mia is revealing all sorts of secrets to her, the most shocking of which is the fact that Roland is the true father the “chap” that lies in their belly.

“𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘪𝘭𝘭-𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦—𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘢—𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴. 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦.”

I feel like Susannah should open her college notebook and start taking notes for this lecture from End-World University.

“𝘈𝘺𝘦. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘖𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴—”

Looks like my theory from yesterday was correct after all.

“𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯!” 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘳. “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘺𝘰’ 𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩, 𝘫𝘶𝘴’ 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦! 𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦! 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶? ”

“𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸!” 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳. “𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘐 𝘢𝘮, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘺?”

A powerful exchange!

“𝘔𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘙𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘗. 𝘚𝘢𝘺𝘳𝘦.” 𝘈 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶?”

“𝘠𝘦𝘴!” 𝘌𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘌𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘨, 𝘚𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘺-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩.”

They are back in the hotel room and Mia answered the phone. I don’t remember much about this book, but I do recollect that The Dixie Pig is an important location.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘢’𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴. 𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘩’𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘔𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴.”

The sweet talking smooth voice on the phone is most certainly telling lies – or at least, half-truths.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘔𝘪𝘢 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳, 𝘳𝘦-𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘪𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱.

On that horrid note, I stop reading for today. I am now 32% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1609: May 28, 2026

I take a brief break from the book to listen to Radio Free Mid-World‘s coverage of the first third of Song of Susannah.

Day 1610: May 29, 2026

Finished off this fun & irreverent episode from Radio Free Mid-World.

Day 1611: May 30, 2026

Most of this book has been about the namesake, Susannah, and her trip back to NYC and (and a mystical visit to Castle Discordia). She and Mia also are dealing with the impending birth of Mordred, “the chap”.

I now open up Song of Susannah at the chapter titled, “The Ambush: 7th Stanza”.

[𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥] 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 (𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘣).
…
𝘐𝘯 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥’𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯.

We’re back with Roland and Eddie and what the hell have they landed into?

𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴; 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩-𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 “𝘈𝘸, 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 ’𝘢𝘵, 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬!” 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘥-𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘳—𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦-𝘨𝘶𝘯—𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱.

This chapter has grabbed my attention. No slow-pacing issues here!

…𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘺. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘖𝘞𝘕 𝘖𝘍𝘍𝘐𝘊𝘌, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘛𝘖𝘕𝘌𝘏𝘈𝘔 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘌 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘙𝘌𝘚𝘊𝘜𝘌.

So this is where Roland and Eddie landed.

Town of Stoneham, Maine

https://stoneham-maine.com

Town of Stoneham, Maine

Stoneham was incorporated on January 31, 1834

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮: 𝘌𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘪𝘦, 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 𝘚𝘦𝘢, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘹𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮.

I also assumed they might’ve travelled back in time, BEFORE Andolini’s final fate.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭; 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱. 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘛𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵.

“once before… ten years in the future” – Makes the brain hurt!

“𝘠𝘰𝘶,” 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘶𝘯. “𝘠𝘰𝘶. 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦.”

“𝘔𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦,” 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥. “𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬.” 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘎𝘦𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧.

That was efficient.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 (𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭), 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳.

This is a very interesting mystery.

I leave Roland and Eddie holed up behind the Stoneham convenience store, about to spring an explosive trap of their own upon Jack Andolini and all the other bad guys.

I am now 36% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1612: May 31, 2026

Continuing to read Song of Susannah, finishing off “The Ambush: 7th Stanza”.

Roland and Eddie have taken the Magic Door Express and landed in Stoneham, Maine where a hundred guns were trained on them. Balazar’s gang seemed to know to expect them in the exact where and when, a mystery that is quite intriguing.

When I last left them, they were about to launch an explosive counter-attack.

“𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯!” 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥. “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵-𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯’𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨! 𝘚𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯! 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧! 𝘖𝘳 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘌𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘰 𝘉𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘢𝘳’𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦?”

My favorite scene from Wolves of the Calla was how Eddie had manhandled Jack Andolini. This isn’t quite up to that level, but it’s still enjoyable.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘢 𝘈𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦… 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘮.

And “this world” is the one where the author of ‘Salem’s Lot existed, no? There’s a connection here, I’m sure of it.

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘒𝘦𝘺𝘸𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘯𝘥, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯,” 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

I couldn’t find “Keywadin Pond” via Google. But there is a reference to it in Bag of Bones. Will try to keep this in mind 10 years from now when I finally get to that book!

𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. “𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵.” 𝘏𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵. “𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴: 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴?”

“𝘉𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴,” 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘮, 𝘌𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘮, 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘯…𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘦𝘯𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬.”

“𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴’𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳, ” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥.

That Q&A John from the convenience store conducted with Eddie & Roland was riveting. I like when people act realistically in very bizarre situations.

But I stop reading here for the day. I am now 39% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1613: June 1, 2026

Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came discuss the adventures of Susannah/Mia and Eddie & Roland in our world.

The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah — Stanzas 5-7

http://twoguysdarktower.blubrry.com

In this episode of Two Guys to the Dark Tower Came, we explore The Dark Tower, Book VI, Song of Susannah, Stanzas 5-7.

Day 1614: June 2, 2026

The Kingslingers analyze every word of this off-the-rails section of Song of Susannah.

Song of Susannah (Part 2)

https://podcasts.apple.com

This week the Song of Susannah continues as Scott and Matt discuss the 5th, 6th, and 7th stanzas. We finally find out who the chap’s father is.

Day 1615: June 3, 2026

Finished off this episode from The Kingslingers.

Song of Susannah (Part 2)

https://podcasts.apple.com

This week the Song of Susannah continues as Scott and Matt discuss the 5th, 6th, and 7th stanzas. We finally find out who the chap’s father is.

Day 1616: June 4, 2026

I’m back to the book, reading “A Game of Toss: 8th Stanza” in Song of Susannah.

I last left Roland and Eddie in a massive gunfight in Maine where they escaped an ambush led by Jack Andolini and every mobster in the northeast who were waiting to take them out.

𝘏𝘦 [Eddie] 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘢𝘮 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘺𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Definitely not a sentence I had ever expected to read in my life.

𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥. “𝘛𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘰𝘹 𝘸𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘵? 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺—”

Eddie dropping hints about future events to their kind host makes for fascinating reading. I sometimes fantasize about time-traveling to the past and dropping incredible bombshells about what awaits them in the future (like the name of a current sitting president of the US).

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘨𝘢𝘯, 𝘣𝘺 𝘉𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯 𝘚𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘮𝘢𝘯, 𝘑𝘳., 𝘢𝘯𝘥 ’𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮’𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘵, 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨.

“𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮’𝘬𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧,” 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥: “𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵.”

Oh shit… Eddie’s going to ask him about Stephen King, isn’t he. Now I’m on the edge of my seat!

“𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥—”

“𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘱.” 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘐𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢 𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵: 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦-𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦.

“𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥?” 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

“𝘈 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦?”

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥.

And there it is. The beginning of some of the weirdest plots King has ever written.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴-𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘮𝘰𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥’𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦?

These are the kind of “deep thoughts” you ponder while completely high, LOL.

𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘺, 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘩𝘦? 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢, 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯. 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?

Although it was three subchapters of talking, it was FASCINATING conversation!

I am now 44% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1617: June 5, 2026

Continuing to read Song of Susannah, picking up with “Eddie Bites His Tongue: 9th Stanza”.

I had a hard time leaving the last chapter where Eddie focuses on Stephen King himself and learns that he’s not far from the place in Maine he and Roland had landed.

“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮—”

“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨,” 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥. “𝘋𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘹 𝘮𝘰-𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦.”

𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. “𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘠𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵.

I was mistaken earlier. Their first point of business was to get to Calvin Tower who was traipsing around Maine looking for books to collect when he should’ve been in hiding!

𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦. “𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯,” 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘥—”

𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴. 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥.

“𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘐 𝘧’𝘨𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘝𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵—𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘰𝘰—𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦.”

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘥.

I didn’t quite understand this exchange. Why did Roland shush him? Why is Eddie paranoid? Anyhow, Cullum takes his leave and I’m sure we’ll never see him again. Right?

Right?

“𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥? ”

“𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦. 𝘈𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴.”

“𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮?” 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥.

Roland and Eddie found Calvin Tower’s buddy, Deepneau in Cabin 19 and are learning that Tower has changed his mind about selling them the lot with the rose.

This is the side of King I’m not the biggest fan of. The absolute frustration of dealing with fellow human beings who make terrible decisions. It’s realistic alright – maybe too realistic!

𝘖𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 (𝘢 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘻 𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦) 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱.

𝘉𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦, 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 (𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘷𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦), 𝘌𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘶𝘱.

Will Eddie clock Tower right in the kisser? Guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out!

I am now 47% of the way through Song of Susannah.

Day 1618: June 6, 2026

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Day 1619: June 7, 2026

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Day 1620: June 8, 2026

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