In Chap­ter 171 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” the pro­tag­o­nist is immersed in a con­tem­pla­tion of his life as he seeks solace in a small, inti­mate set­ting. He pre­pares for the night by plac­ing a blan­ket in front of the door and ensur­ing the win­dows are secured, a pro­tec­tive ges­ture that sig­ni­fies his con­cern for his daugh­ter, who lies near­by, unknow­ing of his wor­ries. The ring­ing phone inter­rupts the still­ness, and he answers it prompt­ly to avoid wak­ing her. It’s a neigh­bor with news about the Carters, lead­ing him to a for­ward­ing address, although it’s soon revealed they are unlist­ed. His mind races, cal­cu­lat­ing the dis­tance to North Dako­ta, reflect­ing on the insur­mount­able obsta­cles that lie ahead.

As he stares out at the stars, he feels the weight of his past mem­o­ries, filled with breath­tak­ing sights like the fall foliage along Kan­ca­m­a­gus High­way, the crys­talline depths of Crater Lake, and stun­ning vis­tas over Lake Tahoe and Skag­it Val­ley. Each beau­ti­ful moment is tinged with sad­ness, a reminder of the loved ones he’s lost along the way. For Patch, these mem­o­ries bring about a pro­found real­iza­tion that his jour­ney has cul­mi­nat­ed at this piv­otal cross­road.

Dur­ing the night, he reflects deeply on his life, rec­og­niz­ing that, despite its chal­lenges, it has ulti­mate­ly led him to his daugh­ter, Char­lotte. As dawn breaks over their mod­est motel, he makes a sym­bol­ic ges­ture by tear­ing the address in half and dis­card­ing it, sig­ni­fy­ing his accep­tance of the sit­u­a­tion and his desire to embrace his present. In a whis­per, he reas­sures Char­lotte of his com­mit­ment to her, express­ing that he has room for her in his heart. Yet, amidst this new­found resolve, he grap­ples with the heart-wrench­ing acknowl­edg­ment that he has lost Grace, high­light­ing the dual­i­ty of his emo­tions: the joy of find­ing Char­lotte jux­ta­posed with the sor­row of miss­ing anoth­er. The chap­ter encap­su­lates the essence of loss and redis­cov­ery, por­tray­ing Patch’s emo­tion­al land­scape as he nav­i­gates through mem­o­ry and love.