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file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20Stephen%20King%20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htmThat was a more difficult question, and he was wary of it because he didn’t want to believe it, and hehad seen the results of that sort of mind-set before.No, he did not want to believe Timmy Baterman had been a daemon, but he would not—absolutelycould not—allow himself to let what he wanted cloud his judgment.Louis thought about Hanratty, the bull. Hanratty, Jud said, had turned mean. So, in his way, had TimmyBaterman. Hanratty had later been “put down” by the same man who had somehow dragged the bull’sbody up to the Micmac burying ground on a sledge. Timmy Baterman had been “put down” by his father.But because Hanratty had gone bad, did that mean that all animals went bad? No. Hanratty the bull didnot prove the general case; Hanratty was in fact an exception to the general case. Look back at the otheranimals—Jud’s dog Spot, the old woman’s parakeet, Church himself. They had all come back changed,and the change had been noticeable in all cases, but in the case of Spot, at least, the change hadn’t beenso great that Jud had forborne to recommend the process of. . . of. .(resurrection)Yes, of resurrection to a friend years later. Of course, farther down the line he had tried to justify andhem and haw, and hadspouted a lot of ominous, confused bullshit that could not even rightly be called philosophy.How could he refuse to take the chance available to him—this one, unbelievable chance—on the basis ofthe Timmy Baterman story? One swallow did not a summer make.You’re slanting all the evidence in favor ‘of the conclusion you want to produce, his mind protested. Atleast tell yourself the goddamned truth about the change in Church. Even if you want to disqualify theanimals—the mice and the birds—what about the way he is? Muddled. . . that’s the best word of all, thatsums it up. The day we were out with the kite. You remember how Gage was that day? How vibrant andalive he was, reacting to everything? Wouldn’t it be better to remember him that way? Do you want toresurrect a zombie from a grade-B horror picture? Or even something so prosaic as a retarded little boy?A boy who eats with his fingers and stares blankly at images on the TV screen and who will never learnto write his own name? What did Jud say about his dog? “It was like washing a piece of meat.” Is thatwhat you want? A piece of breathing meat? And even if you’re able to be satisfied with that, how do youexplain the return of your son from the dead to your wife? To your daughter? To Steve Masterton? Tothe world? What happens the first time Missy Dandridge pulls into the driveway and sees Gage ridinghis trike in the yard? Can’t you hear her screams, Louis? Can’t you see her harrowing her face with herfingernails? What do you say to the reporters? What do you say when a film crew from “Real People”turns up on your doorstep, wanting to shoot film of your resurrected son?file:///E|/Funny%20&%20Weird%20Shit/75%20-%20St...20Books/Stephen%20King%20-%20Pet%20Sematary.htm (230 of 333)7/28/2005 9:21:49 PM