Summary

Bartle has been in prison for three years and is due for release. It’s spring. He describes his imprisonment as relatively easy. He’s been checking books out of the prison library and stacks them like a stool so he can see out of the window in his cell, which is high above his head. He makes marks on his cell walls every time he recalls a particular event from the war, but the staff think he’s counting down his days to release. They describe him as a model prisoner and tell him he’s a “shoe-in” for early release.

Murph’s mother comes to visit. She tells Bartle she “just needed to see.” She tells Bartle about the December night she and her husband received the news of Murph’s death. Bartle imagines that snow fell that night. The couple was...