How It All Goes Down
Falling in Love
- Alex, Jonathan, and Grandfather follow Augustine into her house, a building which Alex says "I do not think that I would dub it a house. […] I would dub it two rooms" (18.2).
- It's chock full of boxes of, well, everything.
- Weddings and other celebrations
- Privates: Journals/Diaries/Sketchbooks/Underwear
- Watches/Winter
- Figurines/Spectacles
- Darkness
- Dust
- None of those are jokes, guys. This is basically Elvis Presley's Birthplace meets hoarders.
- Augustine makes them some food: more potatoes. One, of course, falls to the floor.
- This reminds them of dinner from last night, and everyone laughs.
- Except Augustine. Who cries. Don't cry over spilt potatoes, lady!
- Alex tries to translate everything Jonathan wants to say to her, like "By saving his grandfather, you allowed him to be born" (18.7).
- But Augustine doesn't get it. In fact, she asks, "Who is Augustine?" (18.8)
- She knows that the photograph is of Safran, but she says that it is not her in the picture.
- However, Grandfather insists that Not-Augustine is Augustine and continues to treat her as such.
- She fetches a box labeled REMAINS and pulls out tons of photos. One of them is of someone named Herschel.
- When Grandfather sees it, he gets mad at Not-Augustine, telling her to "shut up" (18.13) and that she "should have died with the others" (18.15). Ouch. Stone cold, gramps.
- Some of the photos are of Safran, Jonathan's grandfather.
- Grandfather (Alex's grandfather, that is) demands to be taken to Trachimbrod, even though Not-Augustine says it no longer exists.
- He orders Alex and Jonathan to leave so that he can talk to Not-Augustine in private.
- Outside, they talk about Jonathan's grandmother, and how he used to hide under her dress when he was a kid and feel safe.
- Alex then asks Jonathan about his diary, which Jonathan says is for notes on his story.
- Alex reads a passage, which is actually about him. He's kind of angry that Jonathan is writing about him, then he feels sad, grateful, and angry again, over and over in circles.
- Eventually Grandfather comes out and says that Augustine will take them to Trachimbrod.
- Off we go again!