You could be alive. The hard thing could be from inside of me. A piece of fibroid, a tumor from inside my uterus that my body was smart enough to get rid of to make room for you.
-- Narrator ("White Dancing Elephants")

Importance: These lines of narration establish the fact that the narrator might be in denial about the miscarriage. She acknowledges the fact that it is highly possible that she had a miscarriage, but throughout the story, she never fully accepts that fact. In this way, the story explores dynamics of grief and denial.

I became this wretched person. A woman sleeping with her best friend’s husband, a woman waiting to take over a life.
-- Narika (narration) ("Talinda")

Importance: These lines of narration establish the main tension and conflict of the story. Namely, following Talinda's terminal diagnosis, Narika began having an affair with Talinda's husband George. Narika feels conflicted about this fact. By establishing this tension early...