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<!-- NADIA: Maybe you know him better than I do, but ... I just don't believe anyone would really want to die alone. -->
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=== The Mucky Mammoth ===
While some of the crew goes to drink, Shannon stays aboard and watches old tapes on the TV in the video room. The videos focus on a variety of subjects, from documentaries about birds to weather programs to a taping of a funeral. One video features a young Will taking calls about supernatural stories, just to listen, with a banner hung in the background reading "I BELIEVE YOU." Shannon inserts a tape labeled "???" and begins to hear a humming sound. [[Weaver]] stands in a dingy room with blank, gray walls and video equipment in the corner, looking directly at the camera. [[File:Mammoth video room.png|thumb|left|''That awful hum ... it seems to start before Shannon even hits "play."'']] the camera. She begins to speak. Only the hum continues, but Shannon recalls her words as they appear in captions on the screen:
:'''''WEAVER:''' ... mail, school, and these magnificent, tragic horses. Go underground, as deep as you can go. The air is cool and the earth is damp, and when you close your eyes you are surrounded by the dead. Remember where that is? You'll find your way from there. I think this place is what you're looking for. Some of it will wash away soon, but I think you'll be happy here, even without the mail, school ...''
=== Sailing down the Echo ===
As the boat weighs anchor, Will narrates stories of places they pass on the river, such as a lot of small houses beneath a sunflower orchard; originally built by two sisters, the residences are now only populated only by moths. He recounts hearing about what happened at the bar, including Conway's drinking, stories of the dark corners of the beach from Ezra, or Junebug feeling at ease about missing her appointment.
[[File:Echo River 3.png|thumb|right|''Junebug missed an appointment, but didn't seem perturbed.'']]
Will narrates the scene:
:''I should tell you about Patch. He's the bartender, general manager, "creative director" […] A lot of folks assume he owns it, but that is not the case. The Rum Colony is owned by a dead man named Vernon. Technically, it would be owned by the [[Consolidated Power Company|power company]] […] but a clause in that arrangement requires them to keep their hands off the day-to-day — and most the profits — so long as Vernon walks this earth. The upshot of all this is that nobody came forth to identify the body ...''
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Cate walks up to the phone and calls a woman named [[Summer]], one of her clients. She and says she's doing well except she can't get comfortable enough to sleep, so she's up watching TV, to which Cate suggests a natural remedy. Cate tells the others that she is a birth doula, and that many of her clients seem to appreciate someone with experience who doesn't treat pregnancy like an "illness to be cured" as is often true with nurses. [[File:Phone draft.jpgpng|thumb|rightleft|''SHANNON: ''(To WILL.)'' So, any important messages? <br />WILL: Every single one.'']]
Clara calls her older sister [[Nadia]] in Lithuania who is on the balcony of her apartment complex. Nadia tells her that their [[Andrius|Uncle Andrius]] has recently been moved to hospice care and is not accepting visitors. She suggests he would see Clara if she came home to visit, but Clara says it would be impossible to make it back in time anyway.
The man waiting for the phone previously talks to the group and reveals himself as [[Brandon]], the janitor from the [[Random Access Self Storage|self storage facility]]. He asks if they will be passing by the Bureau, as he lost track of time playing a card game and missed the usual ride home from his mother. Cate says they're not but will be heading back past the phone booth and that direction in a few hours. Brandon asks about Conway, who he met before; Cate says that while she doesn't know him too closely, he seems drunk and preoccupied, to which Brandon says that he seemed "spiritually distracted" to him as well.
[[File:Phone 2.png|thumb|right|''NADIA: Maybe you know him better than I do, but ... I just don't believe anyone would really want to die alone.'']]
The phone rings and Shannon answers. [[James B. Carrington|Carrington]], if encountered in [[Act I]], is [[Wrongle|seen at a payphone]], carrying his signature pair of antlers, as a neon sign reading "Hard Times" illuminates the brick wall behind him. He says that he was trying to call a friend who is a lighting designer in Chicago, but believes the storm is affecting the phone lines. He asks Shannon for her help with his upcoming [[Death Of The Hired Man|play]], which will be held at dawn in the location provided in [[Act II]]. Besides the fact the cast and stage crew are all delayed by the bad weather, he needs help on deciding how to show the image of the moon in the performance, as light is a central theme in [[wikipedia:Robert Frost|Frost]]'s original poem on which the play is based. Shannon suggests a solution – either a photo of the moon, an actor in costume, or telling the audience to close their eyes and imagine it – and he thanks her and says he hopes they will be able to make it to the premiere.
