"Long Black Song," Part 1 Summary

Sarah's baby, Ruth, cries, and she cannot placate the child until she gives her an old, broken clock to play with. Ruth beats on the clock with her hands, and the banging sound continues throughout the first part of the story.

Sarah is waiting at home for her husband, Silas, to return from selling his crop. It is sunset, almost a week since Silas left. Sarah also wonders about a man she knew before Silas, Tom, who has gone to fight in World War I. She imagines life with Tom instead of Silas and remembers kissing Tom in the cornfields. She feels lonely, thinking that Tom had left a hole in her heart and that Silas has not quite filled it.

Sarah hears a car. At first thinking it is Silas, Sarah sees a white...