Chapter 7 Summary

Annie's illness came upon her several days before it was determined that she should stay home from school. She was extremely tired and would fall asleep immediately if she even laid her head on her desk for a minute. Her mother poked and prodded at her but couldn't find any obvious telltale signs of any specific illness, so the only logical thing to do was to send Annie to bed.

At the onset of Annie's illness, the rains came. For a year, there had been a drought but that was not unusual for their life on the island. They were glad to see the rain at first but it never let up for the three months Annie was sick. The sea rose and crabs now lived in places that used to be dry land.

Annie lays on her small bed in her little...