'm　a　little　afraid　to；　I　can't　lie　about　that；　but　。。。　all　right。　Where　will　you　be？〃

I　stood　up；　stretched；　listened　to　my　spine　crackle　in　my　back。　One　thing　that　I　knew　for　sure　was　that　I　was　sick　to　death　of　the　sunroom。　〃Out　on　the　croquet　course。　There's　still　something　I　want　to　show　you；　and　it's　in　that　direction。〃

〃Is　it　。。。　scary？〃　In　her　timid　look　I　saw　the　little　girl　she　had　been　back　when　men　wore　straw　boaters　in　the　summer　and　raccoon　coats　in　the　winter。

〃No〃；　I　said；　smiling。　〃Not　scary。〃

〃All　right。〃　She　took　the　pages。　〃I'm　going　to　take　these　down　to　my　room。　I'll　see　you　out　on　the　croquet　course　around。。。〃　She　riffled　the　manuscript；　estimating。　〃Four？　Is　that　all　right？〃

〃Perfect；〃　I　said；　thinking　of　the　too…curious　Brad　Dolan。　He　would　be　gone　by　then。

She　reached　out；　gave　my　arm　a　little　squeeze；　and　left　the　room。　I　stood　where　I　was　for　a　moment；　looking　down　at　the　table；　taking　in　the　fact　that　it　was　bare　again　except　for　the　breakfast　tray　Elaine　had　brought　me　that　morning；　my　scattered　papers　at　last　gone。　I　somehow　couldn't　believe　I　was　done　。。。　and　as　you　can　see；　since　all　this　was　written　after　I　recorded　John　Coffey's　execution　and　gave　the　last　batch　of　pages　to　Elaine；　I　was　not。　And　even　then；　part　of　me　knew　why。

Alabama。

I　filched　the　last　piece　of　cold　toast　off　the　tray；　went　downstairs；　and　out　onto　the　croquet　course。　There　I　sat　in　the　sun；　watching　half　a　dozen　pair