Three Steps Past the Monkeys - Nancy Birkla Summary and Analysis

In "Three Steps Past the Monkeys," Nancy Birkla explains how recurring nightmares about the monkeys from "The Wizard of Oz" are connected to a very troubling part of her childhood. She begins by recounting that her family moved quite often as she was growing up, but somehow the dreaded monkeys hid in their suitcases, because her recurring nightmares lasted a very long time.

The nightmares resurface when Nancy is forty-three years old and has been drug-free for six years and out of prison for five. She is taking a film class, and they watch the famous flying monkeys scene from "The Wizard of Oz." She realizes she is going to have to confront the monkeys.

Nancy then goes back in time to describe in detail the day...