Summary

At breakfast the following morning, Emily asks her mother why she never speaks of her father. For a time, she doesn’t answer, and then finally admits that she doesn’t know what to say. She admits that she wants to tell Emily about him, but the embarrassing truth is that she can’t remember, claiming her memories disappeared just as he had.

Emily backs down immediately, but her mother insists that she truly wants to remember, but she has only vague memories of the man she married and they disappear as well. She feels like a terrible mother but Emily reassures her that isn’t the truth. She tells her mother again that it doesn’t matter and then distracts her by asking her for pocket money.

Emily rides her bike to the end of the pier and is approached by Mr...