The town mourns the loss of the basketball team’s state championship. Mr. Allen drives Russ and Finley several hours outside of the city, to Russ’s surprise, and Finley takes in the smell of manure and the sights of nature. “I’ve never been to a place like this before, and it makes me swivel my head right and left so I don’t miss anything” (226). In the middle of the woods, Finley realizes that the surprise is stargazing, and the man running the viewing station goes over the rules, including no car lights and limited noise. They drive even further out into the woods and come upon a tree/lighthouse with a large viewing deck. All three are in awe: there is nothing but the green of trees and the tops of other viewing structures for miles around.

After dinner, Mr. Allen retires to the bed downstairs, and Russ and Finley lie on the viewing deck, where they will spend the whole night, to watch the sun set. After a long silence, Russ says that they should talk about what happened to both of their parents. Finley doesn’t want to, but eventually Russ convinces him.