Chapter Three: A Desperate Escape Summary and Analysis

In 1945, the Sasaki family included two-year-old Sadako, her four-year-old brother, Masahiro, her father Shigeo, 28, her mother Fujiko, 26, and 66-year-old grandmother Matsu. They lived in Kusunoki-cho, a residential area a mile north of the hypercenter. Just before the bomb hit, the family was eating breakfast. Suddenly a neighbor was shouting for Fujiko to come outside and look at the beautiful things floating down from the sky. She ran outside and saw three shiny parachutes floating down. She didn't think much of what she saw and returned back inside. Moments later there was an all-encompassing and blinding white light and a violent and merciless wind.

The Sasaki house and those all around it were destroyed. The entire area was instantly rendered a wasteland. As Fujiko tried to dig out from the debris, she heard Sadako...