Summary

This story is a one-page tale about a young girl who is attracted to an older man she observes from a distance. All of the characters are referred to with pronouns, providing little clarity as to who the story is about. “Voyage in the Dark” centers on a girl who refers to herself as a little girl who will not be little for much longer (1). Her friends and she enjoy watching a man drive home through a valley, where the sound of his engine echoes. The girls climb trees on his property to watch him drive up, and, while some girls stay back, the unnamed narrator sneaks into the man’s backyard, where she naps in his garden while holding on to her prized possession: a lilac seashell.

Analysis

One must not be remiss about short chapters in a collection, for...