Summary

The first-person narrator, Leda, describes herself as falling ill while driving her car at night. She feels a burning in her side, becomes weakened, and begins to lose consciousness. Her mind wanders in this foggy state, and she feels like she is on a beach in the daytime, watching a red flag on a pole, waving in the breeze. The image of the red flag recalls for Leda her mother’s admonishments when she was a child to “never go swimming if you see a red flag; it means the sea is rough and you might drown” (9). Leda admits that her mother’s caution has stayed with her over the years and as a result she does not dare go into the sea, even on the calmest of days. Her anxiety prevents her from doing more than dipping her toe into the water; her...