The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Two days later, the narrator receives a letter: it’s confusing, so the narrator takes it to his mother. She explains that the narrator won the Premium Bonds, which his grandmother bought for him when he was born—he’s won 25 pounds. Twenty-five pounds is more than enough to buy lots of candy—but the narrator’s mother insists on putting the money in his account instead. That afternoon, Mr. Wollery, who attends to the gardens, discovers a bottle filled with small coins, all from before 1937. The narrator spends the day shining them and goes to sleep happy and feeling rich.

The narrator dreams that he’s having a bad day in school. Kids chase him, along with his grandfather and his grandfather’s friends. The tormenters catch up to the narrator, and a waxwork of his grandfather shoves something sharp and metallic into the narrator’s mouth. The narrator wakes up choking. He shoves his fingers into his throat as far as he can go and pulls something out. He vomits a bit of blood and without looking at the thing in his hand, he runs to the bathroom and washes his mouth out. Then, he opens his hand and finds a silver shilling. He wants to tell someone about it, but he’s not sure who to tell—adults never believe anything he says, true or not.

The narrator then goes outside, and his sister accuses him of throwing coins at her from the bushes. The narrator heads down the drive and sees Lettie Hempstock. She asks if the narrator was having a nightmare and listens to what happened. She simply agrees when he says that nobody put the shilling in his mouth and that he didn’t throw coins at his sister. When the narrator asks what’s going on, Lettie says that someone is doing a poor job of giving people money. It’s “stirring things up around here that should be asleep,” which is bad. She also confirms that this has something to do with the opal miner and then invites the narrator to have breakfast. As they walk, Lettie tells the narrator about the bad things happening to people in houses along the lane.

When the narrator asks why he found a shilling in his throat, Lettie says that the opal miner just wanted people to have money—but it’s complicated. His death started something, and now, something else is wreaking havoc. Lettie says something about another neighbor and the narrator asks how she knows these things. Lettie explains that she’s “been around for a bit,” so she knows things. The narrator confirms her age and then asks how long she’s been 11, but Lettie just smiles in response. When they pass Caraway Farm, the farmers are shouting at each other. Lettie explains worriedly that they’re fighting over money and that the husband suspects his wife is “doing bad things” to earn money—he found bills in her purse that she can’t account for.

The narrator asks if all of this is really about money—but Lettie admits, in a way that makes her seem frighteningly grown-up, that she’s not sure. She assures the narrator that they can fix it after they eat pancakes. When they’re finished, the narrator admits he’s afraid. Lettie insists he’ll be safe and that she won’t let him be harmed, but Old Mrs. Hempstock bursts in, worried that someone is hurt. Lettie tells Old Mrs. Hempstock about the narrator’s shilling and about what else is happening. Old Mrs. Hempstock carefully inspects the shilling and says it’s brand-new, even though it’s dated 1912. She impresses the narrator by explaining that the electrons are “too smiley for 1912,” so the narrator compliments her eyesight. She guffaws that it’s not as good as it once was, given her age.

When the narrator asks how old Old Mrs. Hempstock is (in his experience, old people like to share their ages), she simply says she’s old enough and that she remembers when the moon was made. The narrator asks if a ghost is haunting them, which makes Lettie and her grandmother laugh. Lettie explains that ghosts can’t make or move things and runs to get the younger Mrs. Hempstock. The narrator helps Old Mrs. Hempstock arrange her daffodils and feels very important and grown-up. Then, he accepts a lump of honeycomb and eats it with a spoon. Mrs. Hempstock arrives and scolds her mother for giving the narrator honey, but Old Mrs. Hempstock says she’ll just scold the bacteria in the narrator’s mouth.

Mrs. Hempstock tells Lettie to take a hazel wand and the narrator to find “her,” but Old Mrs. Hempstock says it’s too dangerous to take the narrator. Lettie begs until her grandmother relents. Old Mrs. Hempstock reminds Lettie of what she must do, but Lettie brushes her off and insists they’ll be fine—but presently, the narrator recalls that they weren’t fine.