Notes on an Execution

The narrative shifts back in time to 1990. Hazel and Jenny are college-aged twin sisters who share an intense bond. Jenny can sense Hazel’s feelings, an ability she calls “Summoning.”

In the winter of 1990, Hazel’s budding career as a ballet dancer has been put on hold by a knee injury, forcing her to return home to Burlington, Vermont. Jenny arrives on Christmas Eve with her new boyfriend, Ansel. Hazel resents how Jenny didn’t call her after her injury. She is instantly attracted to the intelligent and handsome Ansel, spurring further resentment.

Jenny announces a plan to major in labor and delivery nursing. Hazel feels cold at the outpouring of pride and excitement from her parents. On Christmas morning, the family gathers to open presents. Ansel gifts Jenny an amethyst ring on a gold band.

The family sits down to Christmas dinner. Hazel and Jenny’s father prods Ansel about his past. Ansel says that his parents abandoned him at the age of four, and his little brother died shortly after. He’s been reading John Locke’s philosophy, which holds that memory and choice are the most important factors in an individual’s character. Ansel believes Locke’s theory that humans are “created by what happened to us, combined with who we choose to be” (92).