Summary

In the beginning of this story, Frank recalls reading a story in the "New York Times" about the effects of being in space without air. After he reads it, he thinks about what it would be like to be in that state and what are some of the things that a person could focus on before their deaths. Frank contemplates these final seconds of a person's life and compares it to the recent things he has seen on television, making the comment that a lot of the things seem to be trying to ease the experience of his own impending death.

A few days before Christmas, Frank comes home to find an African American lady on his front steps knocking at the door. At first Frank thinks that the lady is the daughter of his former housekeeper or one of...