CHAPTER
I
il I{ER INTENTION IS TO ARRIVE EARLY TO AVOID
confusion， but a detail detains her at home. There is the usual
human disorder connected with a first day. Tile crowd is thick，
sluggish， noisy. She senses， however， a feebleness in the uproar.
They are massed for individual purposes only. This gives her
coumgel She joins them， arms pinned to her sides， and allows
herself to be carried toward tlle bank of elevators.
She is late. She has never been late before. Six years of being
on .time. Tile lecture has already begun. She moves to lrer seat，
-the seat she has occupied for all tbese years， the particular
i~ seat that has assumed .the contour and shape of a home. After
!i so ~nany years tier spine has molded to its cun， e. From her point
of yicw tile seat iS well located~ She chose it for its location.
]i ronl .it slle can s~e and remain unseen. He will never raise his
eyes， Iris never .raised them to tile extreme rear of the room. She
;~an repeat flie course for the next decade and never arouse his
. ; Att~ntioil. Hers is one of a lmndred clmnging faces each semester.
~ \"She squeezes her way along a narrow corridor of legs， whisper-
mg Oxcuse me as she goes. Only when she arrives at her seat
does she see that it is already taken. That every seat in the row
i is t~ken， That every seat in the hall is taken. Sire is trapped in
: the middle of a niglltmare. Her legs clmm but she remains in
place. An intense localized whisl)ering erupts around bet. She
i understands what is being asked but she is unable to move from
the worn flooring in from of her rightful place. Fhere is no-
where to go.
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