Summary

In "Checkpoints," the soldiers nail signs calling deafness a disease around Vasenka. Meanwhile, Sonya and Alfonso "teach signs in Central Square" (22). The Sergeant begins arresting women. The townspeople continue feigning deafness.

In "Before the War, We Made a Child," Alfonso describes Sonya's beauty, and their love life before the war.

In "As Soldiers Choke the Stairwell," Alfonso describes Sonya's "painted fingernail" scratching her leg as the soldiers "stomp up the stairs" (24).

In "4 a.m. Bombardment," Alfonso runs through the streets. His neighbors run with him as bombs destroy the city. Alfonso cannot find Sonya.

In "Arrival," Alfonso and Sonya's daughter is born. Sonya rests the baby on the piano "and plays a lullaby no one hears" (26). The silence sounds like a match in water.

In "Lullaby," Alfonso writes a lullaby to his daughter.

In "Question," Alfonso describes a child as...