The Final Rupture

This flow follows the sequence from the son's second birthday party to the narrator's final separation from her family.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Birthday Party

The Birthday Party Context The narrator has decorated the house with banners and bumper cars, and the two-year-old spits out his chocolate banana cake and runs away. She chases him, rugby-tackles him and breathes him in. Turn Her gaze falls on a mound of earth in the garden, and she remembers that Bloody is buried there, shot and unburied for a night. The party continues around the dog's grave. Aftermath She rushes inside and slams the bedroom door, wishing everyone would die. The birthday celebration becomes a funeral for the dog and for her remaining patience.

Escape in the Convertible

Escape in the Convertible Context After the guests begin to leave, the narrator pushes through the dining room, gets into the convertible and accelerates without knowing which gear she is in. Turn She shouts to her husband that the son is all hers, gift-wrapped, and that she is giving him away. The neighbours whisper that she has lost it again. Aftermath She drives through gates, sheep, windmills and animal pens until she reaches the radiologist's house. The family is left behind in a cloud of scandal.

The Radiologist's Empty House

The Radiologist's Empty House Context The narrator arrives at the radiologist's house and finds only his daughter in the window, with no sign of him or his wife. She searches every room and collapses in the embroidered armchair. Turn Upstairs the daughter moans, and a grandfather clock ticks. She falls asleep dreaming of antlers, and then wakes to giggles as the radiologist and his wife return with baskets overflowing with mushrooms. Aftermath The wife looks at her with horror, and the radiologist sends his wife upstairs. The narrator realizes she is not the centre of his life; she is ancient history.

The Two Men's Agreement

The Two Men's Agreement Context The radiologist and the narrator kiss, and then her husband arrives on a motorcycle too small for him. The two men stand face to face while the narrator trembles. Turn They do not raise their voices; they nod, step aside, yawn and laugh. The narrator watches them like two long-lost brothers reminiscing about their childhood. Aftermath One of the men coughs and she knows it is her husband, the most loyal. The men have reached an agreement about her life without asking her.

The Forest Question

The Forest Question Context Her husband drives the narrator into the woods and turns off the engine. She expects a verdict, weeks or days, but instead he asks what she wants to do. Turn He tells her he will not be able to forget, and then he reveals that the radiologist's wife is expecting twins. The phrase two tiny twins makes them laugh together for the last time. Aftermath She gets out of the car and disappears into the undergrowth, grieving for a long time. The final separation is not a courtroom scene but a strange, almost comradely leave-taking.

after the narrator's release, when the son turns two

the same evening as the birthday party

the evening of the birthday party

dusk, in the open fields near the radiologist's house

the same night, in the woods