Content Warning: The following chapter summaries and analyses discuss the source material’s depictions of sexism and anti-lesbian biases and slurs.

Scott Carey, a 6’4” web designer and recent divorcé, lives in Castle Rock, Maine. He’s visiting his friend, a retired physician named Bob Ellis—aka Doctor Bob—about a condition he doesn’t want his current doctor to know about. Scott has been losing weight—about 28 pounds so far—but not body mass. He still looks like he weighs 240 pounds, but Doctor Bob’s scale puts him at 212. Stranger still, his weight on the scale is the same with his clothes on or off, and the same no matter what objects he’s holding.

Doctor Bob is shocked and encourages Scott to seek further medical tests, but Scott just landed a dream job designing websites for a department store chain. He can’t afford to spend time in clinics and hospitals getting poked and prodded. He also fears losing his freedom by being “taken into custody” (12) to be studied. Scott makes Doctor Bob promise to keep his condition a secret.

That evening, Scott sees his neighbors going for a run with their dogs. Deirdre McComb and

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