The Unreachable Future

Simple Passion

Tracks the narrator’s changing ideas of the future, from a life organized around the next call to a future that cannot be promised by A.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

One Appointment Ahead One Appointment Ahead from "Simple Passion". One Appointment Ahead A Narrow Horizon The narrator has no future beyond the telephone call arranging the next meeting.

One Appointment Ahead from "Simple Passion". One Appointment Ahead A Narrow Horizon The narrator has no future beyond the telephone call arranging the next meeting.

One Appointment Ahead A Narrow Horizon The narrator has no future beyond the telephone call arranging the next meeting. Work and outings matter chiefly insofar as they fit around A. Dependence on Contact The imagined future is not a shared plan but a single anticipated appointment. That dependence makes every silence consequential.

A Visit Delayed A Visit Delayed from "Simple Passion". A Visit Delayed The Final Hour A gives the narrator a short interval before arriving.

A Visit Delayed The Final Hour A gives the narrator a short interval before arriving. She becomes unable to organize simple tasks and wonders whether she can feel desire properly. Threshold Terror The sound of his car and footsteps becomes the anticipated climax. The future narrows to an arrival that also contains its eventual end.

A Trip as Future A Trip as Future from "Simple Passion". A Trip as Future A Distant Decision The narrator books travel as if a future departure might create freedom.

A Trip as Future from "Simple Passion". A Trip as Future A Distant Decision The narrator books travel as if a future departure might create freedom.

A Trip as Future A Distant Decision The narrator books travel as if a future departure might create freedom. Rather than ending the relationship immediately, she schedules a separation. Hope Recast She imagines the return journey before leaving. The future remains valuable because it could bring her back toward A.

The Call That Might Never Come

The Call That Might Never Come Conditional Hope The narrator makes wishes for A to call before a chosen date. She cannot know whether he will return or whether his promise has any force. Hope as Habit The possibility of contact survives even when reason offers no support. The future remains emotionally open despite being practically inaccessible.

No More to Expect No More to Expect from "Simple Passion". No More to Expect An Unasked Question A says he will call, and the narrator does not ask when or from where.

No More to Expect from "Simple Passion". No More to Expect An Unasked Question A says he will call, and the narrator does not ask when or from where.

No More to Expect An Unasked Question A says he will call, and the narrator does not ask when or from where. The omission protects her from demanding a future he may not offer. A Changed Horizon After he leaves, she says she can hope for nothing more. The statement closes the shared future without claiming that memory has ended.

early in the affair

when A announces a visit an hour away

two months before the Florence journey

after A’s departure

after the January 1991 visit