Summary

In pages 69 - 99 of "Mourning," Eduardo recalls the story of his Uncle Salomón, who drowned when he was five in the lake near Eduardo's childhood home in Guatemala. As children, Eduardo and his brother invented a secret prayer to dispel their uncle's ghost before swimming in the water. Eduardo knows little else about Salomón.

The narrative then shifts to Eduardo's trip to his grandparents' former lake house. Upon his arrival, Eduardo is struck by the simultaneous familiarity and strangeness of the place. The narrative shifts again into the past as Eduardo remembers his Lebanese grandfather smoking in the recesses of the yard. Meanwhile, Eduardo and his brother dig through the house. They are staying with him until they move with their parents to Florida. While his brother rummages through their grandfather's belongings, Eduardo times him on the watch his grandfather gave...