Fresh Water for Flowers

Violette recounts how she scared the group of youths away by posing as a graveyard ghost. She learned how to ride a unicycle for the proper effect, created a shroud out of white fabric, and treated it so that it would glow. The next time the teenagers came to the cemetery, Violette rode toward them in her ghost costume and scared them away. Afterward, she delighted in the memory and put her ghost shroud away as reverentially as though it were a wedding dress.

Julien explains how he found Philippe; he investigated a withdrawal from Philippe’s bank account and discovered that he lives 100 kilometers away from Violette. Violette is distraught and wishes Julien hadn’t gone looking for him.

In 1986, Violette and Philippe take on the job of crossing guards. They take over the cottage from a retiring couple who show them how to work the controls. The house is in disrepair, but Violette imagines what it will look like when she’s finished refurbishing it. She considers their relationship and how Philippe uses his knowledge of her abandonment issues to control her. Violette goes to buy cleaning products and converses with the girl working at the shop. She has her first experience lowering the barrier for an oncoming train and feels content in her new life.