The book comprises six short-stories:
The Good Evil
The initial narrative commences with the protagonist’s attempt to submerge herself in a lake adjoining the enclosed community where she resides. After descending to the lake’s depths, the woman realises her incapacity to drown and opts to divest herself of the stones burdening her and swim back to the surface. Upon returning home, she encounters her spouse, who perpetually clutches a mobile phone, and her two daughters, entrusted with the classroom rabbit, Tonel, for the evening. Seeking solace, the narrator embarks on a walk. Upon her return, she coincidentally encounters her husband and daughters once more, searching for Tonel, whom she had inadvertently let escape earlier. Eventually, the family’s stern neighbour, an avid hunter, discovers Tonel and fortifies his garden with barbed wire to deter children. As her daughters rejoice over Tonel’s return, the narrator is confronted by the neighbour, who cryptically alludes to witnessing her earlier ordeal in the lake. That night, unable to slumber, the protagonist ventures to her neighbour’s premises, only to find him skinning rabbits in a bucket of water. Their conversation reveals that the narrator did, in fact, drown when she leaped into the lake, and her sole path to remaining with her family entails committing a heinous act that will fill her with profound remorse. Returning home with the intention to eliminate Tonel, she falters when she reaches her daughter’s bed. As she reclines beside her husband, she senses her mind descending to the lake’s depths.
A Fabulous Animal
This narrative revolves around a telephone conversation between Leila, situated in Lyon, and Elena, an enduring friend dwelling in Argentina. It becomes evident that something calamitous occurred to Elena’s son, Peta, three decades ago, and the two women haven’t conversed since. During their discussion, Elena unveils her grave illness and her desire to speak with someone who remembers Peta before her demise. This transports Leila back to her last encounter with Peta, during a brief trip to Argentina. On the route to Elena and her husband Alberto’s residence, Leila encounters an antiquated cart horse, still commonly sighted on Buenos Aires’ outskirts. Following dinner, Leila bid Peta goodnight and inquired about his aspirations, leading to his surprising proclamation of desiring to become a horse. They both pranced about the room mimicking horses, with Leila advising Peta to close his eyes when he moved, should he genuinely aspire to be a horse. Subsequently, a loud thud startled the adults, and they discovered Peta’s fall from the second floor. While his parents attempted resuscitation, a shocked Leila rushed outdoors to find a cart horse lying in the street as if it had plunged from a great height. Astonishingly, the cart horse regained its footing and galloped off into the night.
William in the Window
When the narrator’s spouse, Andrés, becomes gravely unwell, she decides to embark on a writer’s residency in Shanghai to evade the anguish of witnessing his suffering. While they maintain regular telephone contact, she continually prolongs her stay, asserting the need for further work on her novel. During her residency, she encounters a Scottish author named Denyse. One day, the narrator discovers Denyse weeping and inquires about the reason. Denyse reveals that someone had attempted to poison her cat, William, back in Scotland. Her spouse conducted inquiries door-to-door but failed to unearth any leads. Denyse divulges her deep affection for William and her sole reason for remaining with her spouse is the cat. Several weeks later, Denyse hosts a gathering in her cramped apartment but promptly dismisses the other writers when she receives the devastating news of William’s lethal poisoning. Subsequently, Denyse urges the narrator to return to her apartment, convinced she can hear William. Initially sceptical, the narrator soon discerns the feline’s presence. Upon returning to her own apartment, she is astounded to discover her husband’s customary bathroom wall handprint, left when he urinates, has materialised inside her bathroom in China.
The Eye in the Throat
The narrative commences with the narrator disclosing that his father received an enigmatic nightly phone call, with silence on the other end upon answering. He then recounts his two-year-old self’s visit to his grandmother’s house under his father’s supervision. The young narrator was inquisitive and had a propensity for placing objects in his mouth. At one point, his father suspected him of swallowing something, but the boy denied it. Days later, the narrator was urgently taken to the emergency room, where they discovered a small watch battery lodged in the depths of his throat, necessitating a tracheotomy due to the battery’s corrosive effects. The child was rendered mute with a permanent throat orifice. Several years later, the family embarked on a trip for an operation aimed at restoring the narrator’s speech. During their return journey, they made a pit stop at a petrol station. As the narrator slumbered in the rear seat, his father refueled the vehicle and had a peculiar interaction with an employee named Morris. After both used the restrooms, the parents resumed the journey, only to realise later that their son was absent from the car. Panic-stricken, they returned to the petrol station, where they found Morris and his wife looking after their son. The distressing night contributed to the dissolution of the narrator’s parents’ marriage, with the boy relocating to Buenos Aires with his mother. A decade later, the narrator’s father revisited the same petrol station, convinced that Morris was the nightly caller. He also harboured suspicions that Morris may have been responsible for something involving his son that night, as their relationship was never the same. When he confronted Morris and inquired about their son’s whereabouts that night, Morris disclosed that the narrator had been standing by the pay phone, attempting to reach the dial to contact his father.
The Woman from Atlántida
This narrative begins in a hair salon, where the narrator reveals the periodic arrival of a disheveled, intoxicated elderly woman, Señora Pitis, who seeks assistance in rinsing sand and seashells from her matted hair. Señora Pitis never communicates with anyone or remunerates for the service. The story transports the narrator to the summer she first encountered Señora Pitis, marking her sister’s final appearance. The family had vacationed in Atlántida, Uruguay, and, unbeknownst to their parents, the sisters covertly ventured into neighbours’ backyards each night. One night, an enigmatic neighbour, who usually shunned them, proposed they trespass into the house of a poet living nearby, who had recently attempted suicide. When they accepted the challenge, they stumbled upon a reeking, inebriated woman who could barely rise from her bed. When the woman inquired about their identities, the narrator’s sister claimed to be her inspiration, sparking their mission to aid the poet in resuming her writing. After nightly visits and house-cleaning, they discovered that the neighbour who had initiated the challenge supplied the poet with alcohol. In an attempt to wean her off alcohol, they locked her in the bathroom during their absence to prevent her from receiving wine bottles. Upon their return, the poet was sober and had penned a poem. The narrator’s sister asked the poet to instruct her in poetry, and the woman agreed. They descended to the beach, where the poet and the narrator’s sister pranced into the sea. However, when the poet emerged from the surging waves, she was alone. Many years later, the narrator returns to the seaside town to uncover the truth regarding her sister’s disappearance.
The Superior Pays a Visit
The final story unfolds in an elderly care facility, where the narrator visits her mother. During the visit, she encounters another resident who requests money for the train. She impulsively provides the elderly woman with coins. As she departs the facility, she discovers the old woman on a bench outside, unable to remember her residence. Consequently, the narrator reluctantly escorts her to her own apartment, which she has occupied solo since her daughter embarked on a worldwide journey. After providing the old woman with sustenance and notifying the facility about the missing resident, the narrator is surprised when the doorbell rings. The voice over the intercom identifies itself as the old woman’s son, Joel. Joel, a muscular, tanned young man operating a local gym, appears initially polite, but his behaviour grows increasingly disconcerting throughout the night. When his mother drifts into slumber, Joel urges the narrator to fetch an item from his bag, which turns out to be a firearm. Fearful and unable to defy Joel, he proceeds to disclose his intent to appropriate the narrator’s wealth and belongings, offering something in exchange. Failing to express her desires, Joel becomes aggressive, brandishing the firearm menacingly. Eventually, she suggests having one of her lamps repaired, eliciting Joel’s intensified fury, leading to the destruction of her apartment. Joel then inquires about the narrator’s family, prompting her to confess her previous aversion to her daughter as an infant, perceiving her abandonment as retribution. Fatigued, the narrator succumbs to slumber. Upon awakening, she finds the disarray from her broken furniture grouped aside, breakfast prepared on the table. After breakfast, Joel and his mother depart, taking all of the narrator’s valuables with them. As she sits at the table, gathering the resolve to rise, she observes her repaired lamp.