NOS4A2

Bing knows the man from Christmasland will visit him. He dreams of the place every night, and the dreams grow more vivid. He sees the car again at NorChemPharm, the company where he works, while washing a wall with lye, a substance he loves. The car is a Rolls-Royce. The driver flashes the lights and the song Joy to the World plays as Bing approaches. The car leaves, but then stops when Bing screams for the driver to give him a chance. Then, it leaves again. A week later, he sees the car outside his house. This time, the driver beckons him closer. The man has old eyes, a long face, and crooked teeth. He introduces himself as Charles Talent Manx the Third. He gives him a business card, invites Bing into the car, and says they must discuss the future.

Manx says the car is a 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith. There were only 400 made. He explains the license plate by saying that his wife accused him of being a Nosferatu.

Bing tells him about Gingerbread smoke, a narcotic gas they make for dentists. At a Dairy Queen, Manx asks if the moon spoke to Bing. He says Bing belongs at Christmasland, but he must earn his spot. Back on the road, Manx says he has been watching Bing. He says there are people who don’t deserve to have children, and he would happily kill them all, even with a nail gun. Bing says he regrets shooting his father, but Manx says he did the right thing. He also says his mother deserved it for enabling Bing’s father: “The fires of hell are not hot enough for a man—or woman!—who would hurt his children” (87).

Manx claims to be more interested in prevention than punishment. Bing thinks he sees snow. Manx says it’s not snow, and that if Bing closes his eyes, he will see something. Bing sees the Road to Christmasland.

Gumdrop trees line the road and the moon’s face returns. Manx says they are 20 hours from Christmasland, and he takes someone there every year. He says if Bing helps him save 10 children from “monsters,” he will take Bing. The “monsters” are their parents. Manx is suddenly wearing an old-fashioned military uniform with tails. Bing is now wearing his father’s military dress whites.

In the glove compartment, there is a Valium prescription for Dewey Hansom, Bing’s predecessor. They walk to a black gate flanked by two statues of women carved from white marble. The sign over the gate says, “Graveyard of What Might Be” (95).

Bing looks down and sees a young girl beneath the thick ice that covers the ground. She’s holding a jump rope. Manx says she is alive and might not die for years. There is a white cross in the ice that says she is Lily Carver, 1980-? There are many crosses and many other children.

Back at the Wraith, Bing notices that the hood ornament is a smiling woman. As they drive, Bing asks about Christmasland. Manx says the children there “live forever, remain children for eternity, and are never forced to struggle and sweat and demean themselves like us pure adults” (99). His own children were the first members. The only adults who are allowed there are those committed to saving children. He brings one or two children each year. He has saved over 70 children and wants to save 100 more. He says his work maintains his youth.

Bing sees a young girl with a jump rope and waves at her. It’s Lily Carter, the girl he saw beneath the ice. Manx says her mother will eventually become her pimp. He says if they take Lily, they’ll have to deal with the mother, and then suggests that Bing might find a use for the mother. He says they must prepare carefully and asks Bing if they could get his sevoflurane—the chemical name for what Bing calls Gingerbread Smoke—and gasmask.