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Wednesday, August 30–Thursday, September 7

Summary: Wednesday, August 30

Paul works on his computer in his bedroom. He overhears Erik outside practicing his kicks with a player named Arthur Bauer. Arthur is holding the ball for Erik while he kicks. Arthur is not that accomplished and will likely not go on to college, unlike Mike Costello, who has already been scouted by FSU’s School of Engineering. Arthur’s sister Paige is also there along with Arthur’s girlfriend, Tina Turreton. Both girls are cheerleaders. Arthur and Paige live in the yellow “Stuart” house in the development community, and their father is a building contractor and a major in the Army National Guard. Paul notices how none of them are really paying attention to each other and how it’s been decided that Erik will date Paige simply because she’s a cheerleader. Arthur has a white Toyota Land Cruiser that he’s modified with big tires and a spotlight so he can do “mud runs” at night. Paul thinks Arthur’s only claim to fame will be riding on Erik’s coattails and wonders what Arthur will do for Erik for making his life mean something. Paul thinks he’ll now have to be afraid of not only Erik but of Arthur too.

Summary: Thursday, August 31

Soccer team tryouts are about to begin. Paul wears special athletic prescription goggles made of “astronaut plastic.” Nothing can break them. At home, Paul thinks about his mother, who is not adjusting well to the ever-present muck fire smoke wafting into their home. She decides to pull down her mother’s drapes and pack up her grandmother’s quilts to protect them from the smell. Mrs. Fisher says she’ll bring them out when her mother and grandmother visit. Paul thinks about his father, whose own parents died when he was young. Mr. Fisher was ten when his father died and a freshman in college when his mother passed away. Mrs. Fisher’s father is a retired military sergeant, and her mother ran a daycare business out of the home. Mrs. Fisher is promoted to the Architectural Committee for Lake Windsor Downs, a high position in Paul’s eyes. Later, Joey Costello comes by for a run around their housing development. Joey points out a house that has been struck by lightning so many times the people who own it can’t get homeowner’s insurance and they can’t sell it.

Summary: Friday, September 1

It’s day one of the soccer team tryouts. Coach Walski announces to the kids that everyone on the field makes the team and will be given a uniform. Only some, however, can go to the away games since the team bus is small and, for insurance reasons, can only carry a certain number of students. Paul feels relieved as now he only must worry about making the position of goalie. He succeeds after making a series of impressive plays tending the goal. Paul is now the Lake Windsor Middle School’s official goaltender.

Summary: Tuesday, September 5

Back home, Paul unpacks groceries with his mother in the kitchen when Erik and Arthur come in. They announce terrible news: Mike Costello is dead. He died on the field during football practice after getting struck by lightning. Mike’s hand touched the goalpost, and he was thrown into the air and landed on the ground with half his hair singed off. An ambulance rushed to the scene and EMT workers tried to defibrillate Mike, but Erik and Arthur say Mike was dead before he hit the ground. Paul notices they’re laughing a bit as they’re speaking and making fun of Joey, Mike’s brother, who rushed to his aid and kept trying to take Mike’s shoes off. Erik and Arthur continue laughing in the backyard, describing Mike’s body and talking about how his hair looked like a mohawk. Paul feels devastated, especially for his friend Joey, who has now lost a brother. Paul realizes that now that Mike’s gone, Arthur will take his place as Erik’s ball holder on the team, and this is the reason why Erik and Arthur are reacting so lightly to such a terrible event. Mrs. Fisher doesn’t seem to notice Erik’s behavior.

Summary: Wednesday, September 6

Mrs. Fisher assumes classes will be canceled because of the tragedy, but classes continue, along with football practice. Instead, the principal, Mr. Bridges, makes an announcement that something will be done to memorialize Mike, which is yet to be determined. Mr. and Mrs. Fisher argue at home about football practice continuing to be held after school. It’s become obvious that the lightning is a regular occurrence in the county, striking every afternoon around 4 o’clock. Mrs. Fisher thinks the practice time should be moved and that all the parents should pull the kids from practice until something’s done. Mr. Fisher, trying to maintain ties with Coach Warner, doesn’t want to upset him. Later, Paul imagines what his friend Joey is going through. He imagines Erik dying on the field instead. This idea makes Paul feel relieved and safer but anxious that he’d lose part of the eclipse story, since Erik knows more about the story than Paul does. The secret would die with him.

Summary: Thursday, September 7

Mrs. Fisher doesn’t relent and calls a community meeting at her house with all the football parents, the principal, and Coach Warner. Mr. Fisher is embarrassed. Mrs. Fisher calls for football practices to now be held in the morning, but Coach Warner is firmly against the idea. He says he can’t make parents wake up early to get their kids to practice, and it would be a logistical nightmare. A few members of the crowd speak up, however, including Mr. Donnelly, whose house is continually hit by lightning and can’t be insured. The decision is made to move practice to the morning.

Analysis: Wednesday, August 30–Thursday, September 7

As the Fisher family settles into their new lives in Lake Windsor, cracks begin to show in the gleaming facade of the Lake Windsor Downs housing development and at the school. The muck fires are a symbol for the problems that are simmering beneath the surface of the community and a harbinger for what’s to come. The housing community, for all its glamour, is not well integrated into the land it’s built on, and the community members, more focused on pretenses, are not well integrated with themselves. People openly use others for gain and prioritize certain aspects of community life over others.

When football player Mike Costello dies, a shocking wave rips through the community, but Mike’s death doesn’t stop them completely in their tracks. Classes aren’t canceled the following day, and neither is football practice. This action shows the community’s lack of unity in the face of tragedy. Furthermore, Erik makes fun of the way Mike Costello looked when he died, which gives readers their first glimpse into the real depth of Erik’s cruelty. Erik has easily recruited a friend, Arthur Bauer, a boy with no future looking to gain fame riding Erik’s coattails, to be his conspirator. Arthur is an easy target for Erik to mold, revealing Erik to be someone who has a sharp eye for people he can take advantage of.

Arthur goes along with Erik’s cruelty, making jokes alongside him about Mike Costello. This is the type of “team” and “community” spirit that the author begins to critique about middle- and upper-class communities like Lake Windsor. The community doesn’t take the proper time out to respect a dead youth, and the players are more interested in themselves and whom they can manipulate to reach their goals. The community is disjointed and superficial.

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