Signal Fires

Fifteen-year-old Theo Wilf drives with his sister Sarah and a girl he wants to impress named Misty. The siblings took their mother’s car while both parents were asleep. It’s a typical summer night in Avalon and “The teenagers aren’t looking for trouble. They’re good kids—everyone would say so” (3). Sarah is entering her senior year of high school, and compared to her athleticism and grades, Theo feels inferior. She pushes him to have fun and take risks, which is why she invited Misty, Theo’s crush, out with them. Theo is nervous to drive. He burns his skin with his cigarette lighter, causing him to veer off the road and crash into a tree just outside the house. Theo and Sarah get out of the car, bloodied but alive. Their father Ben, a doctor, rushes to Misty, who wasn’t wearing her seatbelt and is unconscious. A neighbor calls an ambulance, and Theo sees that Misty’s neck is broken. Sarah lies and says she was the one driving, a lie that Theo goes along with.