Summary

Ariel turns 35 and, suddenly, she and her friends are aware of their biological clocks. Many of her friends struggle with infertility. After spending their whole lives avoiding pregnancy, motherhood has now become the most important thing in the world.

Ariel remembers getting her period and becoming aware of her fertility. For most of her life, pregnancy is seen as something to be avoided. Ariel compares fertility to a dragon which she locked in a dungeon. When she and her friends start wanting children in their 30s, they discover the dragons have become old and weak. None-the-less, they are confident modern science will resurrect them. They believe they can manipulate nature. "[...] we were playing with a power much greater than even sexuality: nature herself" (86).

While her friends are consumed with ideas of motherhood, Ariel is consumed with lust. In South Africa, she reconnects with her...