"The Enduring Chill" Summary

Asbury, a writer at the age of twenty-five, returns home from New York City to Timberboro and his mother because he is convinced he is dying. His mother meets his train and is aghast at his appearance. Her expression enforces his conviction that he is terminally ill. He has felt the end coming for four months, experiencing chills and fever, and he has returned home to die broke, with no job and no more savings. Ashbury's disgusted sister, Mary George, sleeps in the back seat of the car at the station, waiting for his arrival, and she awakens as he gets into the car.

Mary George is eight-years-older than her brother and the principal of an elementary school, with no tolerance for his weaknesses and his inability to earn an income with a "real job." Her sarcasm...