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71 pages 2 hours read

N. K. Jemisin

How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

N. K. JemisinFiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 2018

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Story 12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Story 12 Summary: “Walking Awake”

Sadie, the head “caregiver,” shows Enri to The Master who has come to transfer into Enri’s body (214). She can tell Enri feels “betrayed” by her, but she has him prepared for the transfer anyway (215). She follows The Master to the receiving room where it will take on Enri’s form. In the receiving room, she feels Enri’s eyes boring into her as he lays strapped to a table. The Master wants her to leave for the transfer, and though she feels she owes it to Enri to stay, she thanks the Master for their business and exits.

At night, Sadie dreams of Enri. She is bipolar, and dreams have been an overbearing part of her existence all her life. Though medicine has helped her control the other symptoms and saved her from “the Disposal,” she continues to have to contend with the vivid dreams (216). In the dream, she is in a field—something she has only seen once in waking life—and apologizing to Enri who claims to understand. Enri reveals that he and the other children whose bodies have been taken by the Masters are trapped in a dark limbo—a limbo they constantly dream of escaping. He tells Sadie he thinks she “can help” break them free (220).

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