Chapter 2

After Suhrob left, both Omar and Yuri felt humiliated by Annette’s behavior. But Yuri had acquired a timid hope that his wife had set herself on a course toward changing her life. He swallowed his hurt simply because there was now a light at the end of the tunnel. His wife had refused Suhrob, had stopped one instant short of a complete fall, and that gave Yuri rubber hopes for the future — hopes he could stretch forever.

In any case, as You and I have learned over more than twenty chapters, not one actor in our tragic pantomime will stop taking part in the Story even if the moon falls to earth. To You and me it is a Story; to them it is life, and every decision costs them dearly. From out here it is easy for You and me to say Yuri should have left Annette long ago, but from inside things are much more complicated. If You were a participant in the Story instead of the Reader, perhaps You would say that Annette ought to leave her husband, not the other way around.