Summary

Chapter 5 begins on the morning Abby and Ralph are to go “to the funeral parlor” (46). Abby observes Ralph touching the curtains to eliminate light in a way that Laura used to do, and reflects on how she can “cure” him of being like his mother (48). They prepare to leave, and Ralph thinks he hears Abby say something when she has not said anything at all, something that has happened “a few times since [their] first night here alone” (49). Once they arrive at the funeral home, they work with a man named Wayne to prepare the body. Ralph hands over a dress he wants her to be cremated in, and asks about “the ring’s whereabouts,” which obviously unnerves Abby (51). He says he wants her to be cremated with it, and Abby tries to devise a way for her to put the ring back...