In Chap­ter 146 of “All the Col­ors of the Dark,” Misty repeat­ed­ly express­es her desire to see the musi­cal film “Grease” at the old Palace 7 dur­ing a hike with Patch. Despite his attempts to redi­rect the con­ver­sa­tion towards top­ics like allu­vial and glacial melt­wa­ter, Misty insists on the film, reveal­ing that she remem­bers all the lyrics and even hints at a nos­tal­gic con­nec­tion to a yel­low dress she once wore while watch­ing it. Their dia­logue weaves between light-heart­ed ban­ter and dark­er reflec­tions, as Patch men­tions a grim anec­dote about a man in prison protest­ing poor hygiene stan­dards, caus­ing Misty to frown momen­tar­i­ly.

Despite her cheer­ful rem­i­nis­cence about the film, Misty’s mood shifts when dis­cussing the poten­tial cake for an upcom­ing event, specif­i­cal­ly men­tion­ing Mitzie, a bak­er known for her heav­en­ly cakes. The men­tion of Mitzie’s pso­ri­a­sis, how­ev­er, brings an uncom­fort­able pause to their con­ver­sa­tion as Patch jokes about the cake pos­si­bly con­tain­ing “a lot of skin,” which damp­ens Misty’s spir­its.

As they con­tin­ue their hike, Misty seems increas­ing­ly with­drawn, fail­ing to appre­ci­ate the nature sur­round­ing them — the but­ter­fly glade, the road­run­ners, or the lush pas­tures. She does not engage with her Eng­lish muffins, fur­ther sig­ni­fy­ing her dis­tract­ed state of mind. The chap­ter cul­mi­nates when they return to the car and Patch attempts to restart the con­ver­sa­tion about the movie, only for Misty to cut him off with an enthu­si­as­tic accep­tance, stat­ing she would love to go. The exchange illus­trates the jux­ta­po­si­tion of light­heart­ed nos­tal­gia against an under­cur­rent of dis­com­fort, leav­ing the read­er with a sense of fore­bod­ing about the nature of their rela­tion­ship and the impact of exter­nal ail­ments on their lives.