March 24, 1984

March 24, 1984, is the last genuinely happy day in Louis Creed's life, a Saturday of kite-flying with his son Gage that stands in stark contrast to the horrors that follow seven weeks later. Louis himself later identifies this day as the final one of true, unshadowed happiness, a rare good day in a life that would soon be consumed by grief and madness.

The Day Itself

On this Saturday, Louis is home minding Gage while Rachel and Ellie go grocery shopping with Jud Crandall. Gage, who has discovered the Terrible Twos, wakes from his nap scratchy and out of sorts. Louis tries several ineffectual gambits to amuse the kid, and Gage turns them all down. To make matters worse, the rotten kid has an enormous bowel movement, the artistic quality of which is not improved for Louis when he sees a blue marble sitting in the middle of it—one of Ellie's marbles that Gage could have choked on. Louis decides the marbles are going to go, but that decision doesn't keep the kid amused until his mother gets back.

The Kite-Flying

Louis suddenly remembers the Vulture kite he bought on a whim five or six weeks before, while on his way home from the university. He had also bought twine. He takes Gage over into Mrs. Vinton's field and gets the kite up into the blowy late-March sky on the first try, although he has not flown a kite since he was twelve. Gage is delighted, screaming "Kite's flyne, Daddy!" and laughing joyously. Louis lets Gage hold the string, telling him "You got the hammer, my man. It's your kite." They stand together in the middle of Mrs. Vinton's field, looking up at the Vulture soaring toward the blue, and Louis feels himself going into Gage, shrinking until he is within his son's tiny house, looking out at a world that is so huge and bright.

The Afternoon and Evening

When Rachel and Ellie come home, Louis roars with laughter when Ellie drops the string momentarily and chases it through the grass, catching it just before the tumbling, unraveling core tube gives up the last of its twine. Rachel says she believes Gage has had enough of the wind, afraid he will get a chill, so the kite is pulled back in. That night Gage eats an enormous supper of hot dogs and beans. Louis takes Ellie aside and has a heart-to-heart talk with her about leaving her marbles around, and she agrees to be more careful. Later, Louis goes upstairs to find Gage quiet but still awake, drinking the last of a bottle of milk and looking contemplatively up at the ceiling. Louis takes one of Gage's feet in one hand and raises it up, kisses it, and lowers it. Gage says "Kite flyne, Daddy" and then "Kite flyne, up to the kye" before rolling over and falling asleep instantly.

The Ominous Coda

As Louis is stepping into the hall, he glances back and sees yellowy-green, disembodied eyes staring out at him from Gage's closet—Church, the cat that had been resurrected in the Micmac burying ground. The cat hisses at him, and Louis throws a plastic toy at it, furious and scared. He closes Gage's closet door and turns the thumbbolt. He goes back to Gage's crib, disentangles the kicked-down blankets, and merely stands there, watching his son, for a long time. This moment of unease foreshadows the catastrophe to come, but the day itself remains Louis's last memory of pure, uncomplicated joy.