Narrator

The first person narrator of the short story is unnamed. She is eight years old. In the story’s narrative present, it is her eighth birthday. This is why the narrator is upset when her three-year-old sister Abi consumes “an entire cup of bleach” at the story’s start (285). Because the narrator thinks that Abi “absolutely always [has] to be the center of attention,” she believes that her sister drank the bleach in order to intentionally ruin her birthday (285). Instead of worrying if her little sister will be okay, the narrator trusts that her mother and father will know how to handle the situation. The narrator is meanwhile more concerned that her birthday has been spoiled.

When the narrator’s parents instruct her to remove her underwear in the car, the narrator’s worries shift. No longer upset about her birthday, the narrator becomes more upset that her...