The Book of Form and Emptiness

Benny walks away from the campsite to use the bathroom but becomes lost in the dark. He accidentally walks close to the edge of the promontory, but a voice warns him and saves him from falling. Benny huddles in a spot he believes to be safe and falls asleep. Alice soon wakes him with a flashlight; she is distraught as she thought Benny had been contemplating suicide by jumping off the promontory. As they walk back to the campsite, Benny explains that the voice that saved him sounded identical to the one that he heard in the Bindery; it is a voice that is somewhere “in-between” that of humans and objects.

They lay back in their sleeping bags. Benny, prompted by an encouraging voice, kisses Alice. She stops him after a moment and tells him they can’t continue. Benny lies in his sleeping bag, mortified.

Benny accuses the Book of being the voice he heard encouraging him to kiss Alice: “You were just using me, making me do stuff, so you could tell a better story” (386). He curses at the Book for manipulating him.