- The next day, the narrator carries out a series of actions and behaviors out of a sense of "what is required" (23.8)—that is, to bring her parents back (presumably). Among the highlights:
- She burns her drawings for the Quebec Folk Tales book.
- She throws the fake wedding ring her "husband" had given her into the fire.
- She tears up the scrapbooks.
- She throws the map and her father's drawings of the rock painting into the fire, as well as some photographs.
- She smashes all the glasses and plates and the lamp. Anything she can't break gets thrown on the floor.
- She slashes things like coats and blankets with a knife.
- After that's all done (whew), she goes out—carrying only a blanket—and gets in the water. There, she takes off her clothes and lets them float there.
- She comes to believe that certain actions or places are now "forbidden" to her (23.17), so she has certain limitations on where she can be and where she can pursue food. Within those boundaries, she manages to find herself some lunch.
- Then, she makes herself a "lair" outside near the woodpile and hides there.