Pages 1-19 Summary

The narrator describes the first time he saw Celia Gray, who is the mother of his best friend, Billy Gray. He also mentions that he didn't fall in love with Celia Gray until he was fifteen. He was ten years old and she was riding on a bicycle near the churchyard where the narrator was standing. As a boy, he stood and watched Celia's billowing skirt in the wind, while he caught a glimpse of her undergarments and flesh below.

The narrator also says that he isn't sure if the woman on the bicycle truly was Celia Gray. The narrator suggests that memories and invention are one and the same, so he cannot truly determine what he actually remembers and what he has conjured up in his mind.

The narrator pauses to talk about a dream he had the previous night...