Summary

In the opening of Slowing Down, Tego makes himself some scrambled eggs and confesses to the narrator that he is worried that he is “slowing down” (173). The narrator announces that she does not have “the slightest idea what you’re talking about,” on the account that she is “still too sleepy” (174). The narrator reflects on Tego’s life in the circus, flying out of the cannon that she lit with her silver light box. Now, she details, Tego is “fat” and “old” (175). Tego breathes heavily and walks to the kitchen door. He confirms his suspicion that he is slowing down, and then announces, “I think I’m about to die,” concluding that this is what happens when “you can no longer do the thing you know best how to do” (175). He takes three steps and then falls dead to the floor.

A few...