The narrator tells us that he's been writing a lot lately, and that it's weird that he hasn't been writing for a long time. It's Christmas Eve, and the narrator thinks he'll be dead by midnight. He's also been looking for Dagny all month, but he can't find her by phone. He goes to the store to pick up a new journal, and there he finds Dagny's journal. The narrator explains that he has been trying to find Dagny for the past few days, but she's never been able to get in touch with him. He tells her everything about A.J. and how he killed himself. He also tells her that his doctor is Petier, and he doesn't know where he is going. He says that he won't be forced to choose between his books, because he has read and reread each one hundreds of times.