Plainsong

Guthrie, a resident of Holt, Colorado, stands at the back window of his house, smoking a cigarette as the sun rises. He wakes his two young sons—Ike and Bobby—and makes breakfast for them. Guthrie must go to school earlier than normal to attend a meeting about Lloyd Crowder. The boys’ mother, Ella, is upstairs alone. The boys ask when she will be coming downstairs, but Guthrie does not know: “You shouldn’t worry” (13), he tells them.

As the boys get ready for school, Guthrie checks on his wife. She is “as pale as schoolhouse chalk” (13). He asks her a question, but she does not respond. When Guthrie leaves the room, Ella turns to look at the door and lies back with her arms folded across her face. Guthrie drives to work in his red pickup truck, leaving behind a plume of dust. 

Victoria wakes up in the morning and vomits in the bathroom. Her mother enters, but Victoria insists that nothing is wrong. As her mother smokes, Victoria vomits again. When Victoria is finished, her mother accuses her of being pregnant and calls her a “stupid little slut” (16). Victoria denies the accusation at first, but relents and asks for help.