Breakfast
- It's the next morning, and Conor hasn't been eaten. Phew.
- He goes downstairs for breakfast and calls for his mom, which he's been doing a lot lately. But she's not out of bed yet.
- Conor's not too bothered: after the night he's had, he's happy to make his own breakfast, and quickly whips up some cereal, toast, and juice.
- As he chows down, he looks out at the graveyard and sees that the yew tree is back where it belongs.
- He reflects on the events of the previous night. When he first woke up, he thought it was all a dream. Then he saw that his entire bedroom floor was covered in yew tree leaves, so maybe… not.
- He tells himself that the leaves, which he swept up and threw in the trash, must have blown in through his open window.
- Because he has some spare time before school starts, he decides not to leave the yew leaves in the kitchen trash. He takes them outside, along with the recycling.
- His mom comes downstairs to find that not only has Conor made himself breakfast, he's taken out the garbage and started a load of laundry to boot.
- She compliments him on being so good and apologizes for oversleeping. She tries to tell him the new round of chemo is making her tired, but he interrupts her before she can say "chemo." That word's a no-no in this house.
- Plus she's good to go for the day because his grandma's coming to visit to help take care of her. Conor's not thrilled, though. Grandma's also bringing his mom some wigs, which he really doesn't like.
- Conor's all about the denial.
- As he heads off for school, he hears his mom saying to herself, "There's that old yew tree."