Kelly’s Entrapment

Black Water (Joyce Carol Oates Edition)

This flow tracks Kelly Kelleher’s changing perception as she struggles to survive in the overturned car and confronts the limits of hope.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Sudden Submersion A Sudden Submersion from "Black Water". The Car Goes Under Impact and confusion The Rented Toyota breaks through the guardrail and enters Indian Creek.

A Sudden Submersion from "Black Water". The Car Goes Under Impact and confusion The Rented Toyota breaks through the guardrail and enters Indian Creek.

The Car Goes Under Impact and confusion The Rented Toyota breaks through the guardrail and enters Indian Creek. Kelly Kelleher is struck, disoriented, and unable to understand the overturned car’s position. The first struggle Water surges through the wreck. Her body is pinned, her head is injured, and the familiar world of road, sky, and direction disappears.

The Senator Escapes The Senator Escapes from "Black Water". An Emptying Seat A desperate escape The Senator frees himself from the driver’s side and forces a way out of the submerged car.

The Senator Escapes from "Black Water". An Emptying Seat A desperate escape The Senator frees himself from the driver’s side and forces a way out of the submerged car.

An Emptying Seat A desperate escape The Senator frees himself from the driver’s side and forces a way out of the submerged car. In the struggle, his shoe comes off in Kelly Kelleher’s hand. Kelly left behind Kelly clutches at him and pleads for help, but he is gone. She tries to believe he has escaped only to find assistance, though she cannot know what he will do.

Searching for Air Searching for Air from "Black Water". A Pocket of Air A fragile refuge Kelly Kelleher tries to keep her face above the rising water and locate the remaining air inside the vehicle.

Searching for Air from "Black Water". A Pocket of Air A fragile refuge Kelly Kelleher tries to keep her face above the rising water and locate the remaining air inside the vehicle.

A Pocket of Air A fragile refuge Kelly Kelleher tries to keep her face above the rising water and locate the remaining air inside the vehicle. Her injured body makes each movement an act of exhausting calculation. Reason against panic She tells herself to endure and treats the air pocket as a promise of rescue. Its shrinking presence measures the danger more accurately than hope can conceal.

Calling from the Wreck Calling from the Wreck from "Black Water". The Cry for Help Making herself heard Kelly Kelleher calls, “I’m here,” and strains to believe that The Senator is close enough to hear her.

Calling from the Wreck from "Black Water". The Cry for Help Making herself heard Kelly Kelleher calls, “I’m here,” and strains to believe that The Senator is close enough to hear her.

The Cry for Help Making herself heard Kelly Kelleher calls, “I’m here,” and strains to believe that The Senator is close enough to hear her. The words give shape to her effort and insist that she has not vanished. A mind under pressure Memories of family, childhood, and the party interrupt her attempts to orient herself. The shifts reveal both her disordered consciousness and her will to survive.

The Final Breath The Final Breath from "Black Water". No Air Remaining A last imagined rescue Kelly Kelleher pictures The Senator returning, opening the door, and pulling her to the surface.

The Final Breath from "Black Water". No Air Remaining A last imagined rescue Kelly Kelleher pictures The Senator returning, opening the door, and pulling her to the surface.

No Air Remaining A last imagined rescue Kelly Kelleher pictures The Senator returning, opening the door, and pulling her to the surface. Her mind transforms longing into a vivid escape as the wreck continues to fill. Death in the creek The imagined rescue cannot overcome her injuries and the rising water. Kelly dies trapped in the car, and the story closes on the gulf between imagined survival and actual outcome.

Around 8:15 p.m. on the Fourth of July

Minutes after the crash

While the car remains submerged

Later in the night, before the air runs out

Near the end of the night