In Chap­ter 159 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” Patch expe­ri­ences the rapid decline of Misty’s health due to can­cer. He moves her bed to the bay win­dow to allow her to observe the chang­ing sea­sons, wish­ing to pre­serve what lit­tle beau­ty remained in her life. Through­out the sum­mer and fall of 1993, Patch immers­es him­self in the back­ground of fam­i­ly life at the house on Parade Hill. He finds solace in Char­lotte, who alter­nates between read­ing to her moth­er and rem­i­nisc­ing about their past. As they dis­cuss a for­mer bul­ly turned car sales­man, a trag­ic train derail­ment flash­es on the tele­vi­sion, high­light­ing the jux­ta­po­si­tion of life and death that per­me­ates their dai­ly exis­tence.

As Misty’s con­di­tion wors­ens, Patch strives to main­tain a sem­blance of nor­mal­cy for Char­lotte, plan­ning to get her a Christ­mas gift amidst the over­shad­ow­ing despair. The fam­i­ly’s attempts to cope are evi­dent as Patch takes Char­lotte to the gallery to keep her mind off Misty’s pain, which only saps their spir­its more. He encour­ages Char­lot­te’s artis­tic pur­suits, show­ing her how to paint, while also reflect­ing on his own past as an artist.

The chap­ter tran­si­tions to New Year’s Eve, where the three gath­er on Misty’s bed, watch­ing fire­works illu­mi­nate the sky; a spec­ta­cle that com­bines hope and sor­row. After the fire­works, Patch finds Mrs. Mey­er on the ter­race. Their con­ver­sa­tion explores themes of loss, lega­cy, and the human ten­den­cy to reserve emotions—she reflects on her mar­riage to Franklin Mey­er as a cycle of unful­filled poten­tial and unex­pressed love. Patch advo­cates for embrac­ing life ful­ly, sug­gest­ing that peo­ple should cher­ish expe­ri­ences regard­less of their tim­ing. Ulti­mate­ly, Mrs. Mey­er express­es her deep love for Char­lotte, empha­siz­ing her sig­nif­i­cance and the hopes she car­ries for the future, even as the specter of past rela­tion­ships looms heav­i­ly over them .