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Billy's Birth
Billy was born in 1922 in Ilium, New York. He was the only child of a barber and described as being a funny looking child. -
Sink-or-swim
Billy was a little boy at the YMCA and he was terrified because his father was going to teach him to swim by the method of "sink-or-swim". His father threw him into the deep end of the pool and when Billy reopened his eyes he was on the bottom of the pool and he heard music. As he went unconscious the music continued but he sensed that someone had rescued him. This was mentioned later as an event that made him crazy in the hospital because he was traumatized. -
Grand Canyon Trip
Billy was 12 years old at Bright Angel Point at the rim of the Grand Canyon. He was terrified of falling in when his mother touched him he wet his pants. Later they mention this as one of the events that made him go crazy in the hospital because it was traumatizing. -
Unstuck in Time
In December, 1944 during WWII Billy had stopped in the forest to lean against a tree with his eyes closed when he first became unstuck in time. He swung through the full arc of life and into death, described with a violet light and a hum without anyone or anything else around. -
Dresden Bombing
Billy was in Dresden at the time of the bombing. He was kept in a meat locker with the other Americans and heard sounds like giant footsteps above. He explains that Dresden was one big flame where everything was burning. When they came out of the shelter they saw that Dresden was like the moon now, nothing but minerals. The stones were hot, the sky was black with smoke and everyone in the neighborhood was dead. -
Meeting Kilgore Trout
Billy meets Trout when he was driving down a back alley in Ilium and was blocked by a meeting of newspaper delivery boys and their bikes. The man who was leading the meeting and hiring the kids happened to be Kilgore Trout who Billy recognized as someone he might know. Billy parked and waited for the meeting to end to confront Trout and ask him if he was truly the author. He then went on to assist Trout in delivering newspapers on a route whereas a boy had just quit. -
Tralfamadore Abduction
Billy was abducted on his daughters wedding night. He heard the cry of a melodious owl which was the 100 ft diameter flying saucer with portholes around the rim. The light was pulsing purple from the portholes and a cylinder of purple light encased Billy and forced him on a ladder outlined with lights like a Ferris wheel to bring him into the ship. -
Plane Crash
Early winter in 1968 a group of optometrists, including Billy and his father in-law, were on an airplane on their way to a convention when the plane crashed on sugarbush mountain. Everyone died but Billy who had a fractured skull and was found by skiers. He was taken and operated on in a private hospital in Vermont. -
Valencia's Death
Valencia was in a car accident and though she was uninjured she continued to drive the wrecked car and ended up dying when arriving at the hospital to see Billy from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. This is an example of how death is unpredictable and can happen to anyone at any time. Valencia was on her way to see Billy who was possibly dying in the hospital but she ended up dying herself. -
Billy's Death
Billy dies on February 13th 1976 because a man Lazzaro had hired to kill Billy as a promise during the war with his list, shoots him in the head with a high powered laser gun after one of his public speech appearances to talk about the nature of time and flying saucers. The police tried to protect him from this event but he told them to go home to their families and let it happen.
