The day I turned eight, my sister—who absolutely always had to be the center of attention—swallowed an entire cup of bleach.
-- Narrator (Pages 285 - 287)

Importance: In the opening sentence of the short story, the author presents the narrative's inciting event. Because the story is set on the narrator's eighth birthday, the narrator perceives her sister's decision to drink the bleach as a deliberate attempt to rob her of the attention she feels that she is owed. The way in which the narrator describes this moment conveys the importance of her birthday to her. It also captures the narrator's longing to be seen, understood, and valued by her parents in the way that she thinks Abi is. Abi's action and the narrator's response to it also foreshadow the narrator's emotions and decisions in the pages that follow.

Take off your underpants.
-- Dad (Pages 285 - 287)

Importance: On the way to the hospital, the narrator's father demands that she...