Summary

Mira and her father discuss tradition, faith, and family. Her father argues that when people abandon “family traditions,” they begin seeking out “fixers,” or things to infuse their lives with structure and meaning (128). Faith and family give life structure and order. The fixers damage these structures. Mira apologizes to her father for seeking out fixers instead of adhering to “family traditions” (133).

Annie walks under the tree with the other woman. She points “out two swans . . . in the lake,” saying they are representative of “communal life” (134). Her words make the woman cry. Witnessing the scene, Mira is desperate to escape the leaf. She no longer wants her father to determine her life.

Mira screams for Annie. Annie cannot hear her. The leaf is a trap. Mira is terrified. She continues calling Annie. Suddenly the leaf breaks “open from the...