Summary

The narrator, Gail, opens the novel considering wristwatches and how people no longer tap them like they used to. Among other reasons, the tapping implied that time ought to be moving more quickly. The narrator gets called into the office of her school’s headmistress, Marilee Burton. Marilee needs a cardio-version. The narrator is not surprised that she did not know this earlier because Marilee always keeps herself highly presentable. Thus, she is “the perfect candidate for heart issues” (6). This procedure will require healthcare professionals to jolt her heart into stopping and then restarting it. This is not the first time Marilee will have it performed.

Marilee and her husband, Ralph, want to start traveling. So, she will be retiring before the next school year starts. Gail assumes that she will become the new headmistress as she...