Summary

The novel opens with a conversation between a boy named David and a woman named Amanda. David speaks to Amanda about worms. Amanda replies by stating that she is in a dark hospital room and is lying under the sheets of a hospital bed. David tells Amanda that discovering the exact moment at which “the worms come into being” (2) is “very important” (2). Amanda had been telling David the story of how she ended up in hospital, so David urges her to continue her story, reminding her that she was talking about what is “happening in the yard” (2).

In Amanda’s story, Amanda is relaxing in her yard with Carla, David’s mother. Carla gets up to leave, and she forgets her sandals by the pool. Carla enters Amanda’s car, looks out of the window at her house, and starts rummaging in her...