Summary

In “Alone,” Suchen sits at a ski lodge restaurant. The waitress asks her about the smoke, but Suchen did not realize there was a nearby wildfire. She studies an elderly couple and thinks about her ex-husband, wondering what “it would be like to be understood without having to speak” (194).

The couple leaves and another customer named Walter introduces himself to Suchen. Suchen guesses a death or divorce inspired Walter “to eat alone at a ski resort” (196). Suchen tells Walter she is from Los Angeles, omitting her childhood in China. She does not want him to draw any connections to the news story from her childhood. In the reports, she was called the survivor of a “senseless tragedy” when she was in middle school (197). Over the years, Suchen revealed partial versions of the story to her husband and friends. She...