The Man

The man is one of the main characters of the short story. He is middle-aged, and in the narrative present, lives alone. After his lover presumably left him, the man has taken all of the furniture out of his home and displayed it on the lawn. Over the course of the hours afterwards, the man drinks an exorbitant amount of alcohol. When he returns from a trip to purchase more, he finds a young couple in his yard. He seems unsurprised and unaffected by their presence. He sits with them in the yard, sells them a large sum of his belongings, and offers them something to drink. Throughout the evening, he watches the boy and the girl, unsure how to feel about them. Towards the end of the night, he dances with the girl, holding her closely in a moment of apparent longing.

The Boy

The teenage...