Summary

Two young people, Junko and Keisuke, are sitting in a bedroom, where Keisuke is practicing his electric guitar. Junko gets a call from a man named Miyake and tells Keisuke she is heading down to the beach for a bonfire. Keisuke reluctantly joins her. On the beach, Miyake is delicately constructing a bonfire out of the driftwood that has washed ashore. He arranges the wood carefully and then lights some newspaper beneath it. The flame initially appears to go out, but Miyake insists it will light in time. Junko thinks about her favorite short story, Jack London’s “To Build a Fire,” which she believes is really about how the main character is hoping for death, a view her teacher was critical of when she wrote an essay suggesting it. Keisuke further questions Miyake’s fire, and Miyake says he has a...