Counting Miracles

“His grandparents were the only parents he’d ever known, his single mother having died minutes after Tanner had been delivered. It felt strange to know they were no longer around, and the word orphaned felt apt. After all, his mother had existed for him only in photographs, and until recently, he’d known nothing about his biological father at all. In their taciturn way, his grandparents had implied they hadn’t known his father’s identity, and Tanner had long ago convinced himself that it didn’t really matter.”

The narrator’s description of Tanner Hughes’s past establishes Tanner’s desire for home and belonging. The narrator is introducing Tanner’s character in this passage and therefore delivering expositional details about where he comes from. These details in turn provide insight into Tanner’s identity and foreshadow his Search for Identity and Belonging.

“It was just a gut feeling, an instinctual flash, but as he watched her gather herself and step off the porch, her bare feet with red nails flashing below the cuffs of her jeans, he found himself thinking, This woman has a story to tell, and I want to know what it is.”

Tanner’s response to meeting Kaitlyn Cooper for the first time foreshadows the characters’ coming connection. The narrator uses descriptive detail to convey Tanner’s keen interest in Kaitlyn. Diction like “gut,” “flash,” “red,” and “flashing” enact the intensity of Tanner’s emotional response to Kaitlyn’s appearance.

“These days, her life revolved around work and the kids, with no time left for anything else—tonight being a prime example—and she reached for her phone again. She tried Casey, listening as her call went straight to voicemail, and disconnected, feeling frustrated. She took a final sip of wine and dumped the remainder into the sink before beginning to clean the kitchen.”

The narrator’s descriptions of Kaitlyn’s domestic life provide insight into how Kaitlyn sees herself. The narrator is inhabiting Kaitlyn’s consciousness in this passage, and therefore revealing Kaitlyn’s intimate preoccupations. She isn’t thinking about her own needs, but is instead focused on her maternal and domestic duties. The image of her throwing her wine into the sink symbolizes Kaitlyn’s habit of dismissing her own desires.