Victory Lap Summary

In the story "Victory Lap," it is three days before Alison Pope's fifteenth birthday. She stands at the top of the stairs in her house as if she is entering for a grand party. She imagines the people whom she might meet. She remembers that she has to get her tights out of the dryer and realizes she is still standing at the top of the stairs. She wills her mother to hurry so they will not be late for her recital. She thinks about how she loves her dance teacher and the other girls in her class.

As she considers how much she loves her life and all those around her, she imagines herself finding a baby deer in the woods. When a hunter comes with the body of the baby deer's mother, Alison protects the baby from seeing its...