Homesick for Another World

John and Marcia, who have been married 29 years, have dinner with two other couples: Marty and Barbara and Jerry and Maureen. John and Marcia have recently returned from an anniversary trip to an unnamed tropical island, and they spend the evening telling their friends about the trip. Marcia loved the scenery but was saddened by the island’s corrupt government and widespread poverty. She and John tell the friends about their encounters with male sex workers—called beach boys—who followed them down the beach to proposition them.

After dinner, John and Marcia walk home across the park arm in arm. John thinks about how disappointed he is to be back to his normal life after vacation. Although John recognizes his privilege as a wealthy doctor, part of him wishes he could be as free as the people he saw on the islands. He thinks about Marcia’s attempts to avoid the sex workers on the beach, and how he wondered what it was, exactly, that they were offering him.

When John and Marcia get home, John makes popcorn while Marcia turns on a movie. While John is in the kitchen, Marcia dies unexpectedly on the couch. John, mistakenly thinking she’s asleep, sits down on the couch next to her and turns on baseball.