Indeed feverish, a long dialogue between an old woman (not his mother) and a boy (not her son) about souls switching bodies to avoid dying...??
Why does she do that?
It's a routine she's gotten into here. She runs two or three times around the house at every lunch.
This is important. This could have to do with the worms.
When Nina passes the kitchen window, she presses her face against the glass and we smile at each other. I like her burst of energy, but this time her running makes me anxious. My conversation with Carla pulled the rope that ties me to my daughter even tighter, and the rescue distance is shorter again. How different are you now from the David of six years ago? What did you do that was so terrible your own mother no longer accepts you as hers? These are the things I can't stop wondering about.
But they aren't the important things.
What's happening with the rescue distance?
Everything is fine.
No.
She's frowning.
"Are you okay, Nina?" I ask her.
She smells her hands.
"It's really gross," she says.
Carla comes out of the house, finally.
Carla isn't important.
But I walk over to her. I think I'm still trying to dissuade her from the walk.
Don't leave Nina alone. It's happening right now!
Carla comes over, carrying her bag and smiling.
Don't get distracted.
I can't choose what happens next, David. I can't turn back towards Nine
It's happening.
What is, David? My God, what is happening?
The worms.
No, please.
His face was red, his eyes swollen from so much crying. He was digging up dirt with his plastic shovel. Its broken handle was lying on the ground to one side, and now he was digging with only the spoon part of the shovel, which was only slightly bigger than his hand. The duck lay to one side. Its eyes were open, and stretched out like that on the ground, its neck seemed longer and more flexible than normal. I tried to figure out what had happened, but at no point did David look up.
I want to show you something.
I'm the one who decides what to focus on in the story now, David. Doesn't what your mother is telling me strike you as important?
No.
