The novel begins with a feeling of dread experienced by Palmer LaRue, a boy who does not want to be a wringer. This dread is worse than any hunger pain and certainly lasts longer. Even when the boy is doing other things, the horrible feeling about being a wringer comes to him and he cannot escape it. The feeling is not aggressive and does not hurt him physically, but overrides most of his thoughts during the day and his dreams at night. In his dreams, the boy can see his hands around the neck of a pigeon which stares back at him with its unblinking orange eye. The boy can hear voices urging him to wring the bird's neck, but he cannot bring himself to do it. This feeling of dread does not actively pursue the boy who knows that it is coming after him slowly and silently, for no other reason than the boy is getting closer to his next birthday. (read more)
