Siem

Siem is a pony whose brief appearance near the end of the narrative gives Emma a tangible point of contact with the world as she revisits the place where the PAAZ once stood. He does not explain or resolve her hallucination; his ordinary, physical presence helps her recognize it for what it is, and accompanies her as she turns toward life beyond the vanished hospital.

Identity and Appearance

Siem is identified through the concrete details of a pony: he grazes in the roadside grass, sniffs at a fence, and has a warm, dense coat and a mane. The narrative offers no independent biography or speech for him. His characterization comes instead from his bodily presence and the small actions Emma observes while standing near the former PAAZ site.

At the Vanished PAAZ

When Emma sees a large black dog in the shrubs where the PAAZ used to stand, she freezes. She looks toward Siem, who is grazing contentedly and appears not to see anything unusual. As she looks back, the dog grows fainter. The contrast is precise: the dog belongs to Emma’s mind, while Siem is present in the shared landscape. His lack of apparent response does not prove anything about what he perceives; it gives Emma a moment in which she can recognize the dog as part of her own experience.

Emma’s Physical Connection with Siem

Emma hides her face in Siem’s thick, warm coat and feels life moving through him. The gesture brings her attention from the frightening image to a living animal she can touch. She accepts that the dog exists in her mind without treating that fact as a reason to reject her perception or the reality around her. Siem thus serves as a grounded companion in the scene, not as a cure or an answer: Emma can make room for both her inner experience and the living presence beside her.

Departure and Narrative Significance

After Siem briefly sniffs at the fence and resumes grazing, Emma takes him out of the grass, then gets onto the bicycle behind Sergei. As they leave, the clopping of the pony’s hooves accompanies Sergei’s laughter. Emma looks back once at the sandy expanse where the PAAZ stood, but the departure is not a return to the old institution or a claim that her illness has ended. With Siem beside the scene of loss, the ending turns toward continued life: the hospital is gone, while Emma, Sergei, and the realities she must live with remain.