Fever Dream

David redirects Amanda’s attention to her memories, bringing her back to the rental house and afternoon with Carla. She describes Carla leaving the house, and David asks to know more about the rescue distance. Amanda tells him that the “invisible thread” that connects her to Nina changes. Sometimes, it is short, and she needs her daughter close by. Other times, the thread is slack, and mother and daughter can drift further from one another.

Returning to her memories, Amanda recalls going to the store with Nina after Carla leaves. Nina asks many questions and wonders if the people in town speak the same language as they do in Buenos Aires. Amanda enjoys driving down the dirt roads without the stress of city traffic and listens to Nina as she plays with a stuffed mole and puts on her “rich nobility” voice. They buy bread, fruits, and vegetables from market stalls downtown and then visit a home goods store for pool toys. While Amanda is paying, she hears a loud shriek that alarms Nina. The sound comes from a girl who appears to be the cashier’s daughter. One of the girl’s legs is significantly shorter than the other, and she has “an enormous forehead that takes up more than half her face” (51). Amanda is glad that Nina can see the girl and understand that some people are different, but she also thinks she “wouldn’t have the strength” to be the girl’s mother (52).

When they return to the house, Nina takes a late nap, and Amanda decides to take a walk. For the rescue distance to function, she needs to understand her surroundings, and she wants to see the green house where the local healer cured David. She walks by soy fields until she finds it. Staring at it, she sees a black dog missing a leg. David interrupts to tell Amanda that this part of the story is “very important,” but she doesn’t understand why. She explains that the dog seems “strange” to her, so she returns home, worried about Nina. 

Back at the rental house, Carla is waiting for Amanda. Amanda feels a sudden sense of dread, and the rescue distance between her and Nina shortens. She sees Nina waving and smiling from an upstairs window as Carla tells Amanda that David is in the house and the doors are locked. She says they need to get inside as soon as possible, and Amanda begins to panic, even though she tells herself David is just a harmless little boy. The two women run up the stairs, and Amanda frantically looks for her daughter. She opens the door to one of the bedrooms and sees David for the first time. He is unremarkable except for some white spots that mar his skin. Nina is perfectly safe, and Amanda shouts at Carla for scaring her with her “delusions.” Carla leaves without waiting for David. 

Nina and Amanda go downstairs, leaving David in the bedroom, and Amanda makes a snack to calm her nerves. She glances out the window and sees the boy outside, even though she didn’t notice him going down the stairs. David throws his mother’s shoes, scarf, and towel into the pool and then leaves. Shaken by the whole experience, Amanda decides to cut their vacation short and go home. However, she convinces herself that it is better to wait until the morning and goes to sleep.

That night, Amanda sleeps poorly and has nightmares. She dreams that she wakes up and cannot find Nina. When she goes downstairs, she sees her husband sitting at the table with Nina. Her daughter is sitting in a way that is completely unfamiliar to Amanda and there is a can of peas on the table that “has an alarming presence” (73), as it is a brand that Amanda would never buy. Nina tells her parents that she isn’t Nina, she’s David. Amanda wakes up feeling unsettled. She decides that they must leave and packs all their things before Nina wakes up.