Summary

This last half of Part 1 details the evening/early morning that Deraniyagala arrived at her aunt’s house through the first six months after the tsunami.

There was a crowd at her aunt’s house when Deraniyagala arrived. She pushed past the people gathered and went upstairs to shower. As she lay in bed later, relatives and friends asked her questions. She talked about what happened for the first time. When they asked about the others, Deraniyagala told them there was no way they could have survived. She was trying to make herself believe that as well. Someone offered her a sleeping pill but she did not want to sleep because she was afraid she would forget.

Deraniyagala was disturbed when her aunt asked for the phone number for Steve’s parents. The need to call Steve’s...