In 1965, at nine­teen, Kya observes her child­hood peers on Point Beach from a dis­tance, feel­ing iso­lat­ed yet long­ing for con­nec­tion. The nar­ra­tive describes an inci­dent where Kya, dubbed “the Marsh Girl,” hides from the group that includes Chase Andrews, a fig­ure she’s observed from afar and who briefly acknowl­edges her pres­ence. The next day, Kya returns to the beach, hop­ing to see them again, espe­cial­ly Chase, but finds soli­tude instead.

Kya’s life is por­trayed as one of deep lone­li­ness, punc­tu­at­ed by brief moments of con­nec­tion with nature and the odd social inter­ac­tion. Her soli­tary exis­tence is high­light­ed by her avoid­ance of the beach where her peers gath­er, dri­ven instead to the marsh’s soli­tude. The rare instances when she ven­tures out, such as her vis­its to Jumpin’s wharf, under­line her strug­gle between the desire for social bonds and her habit­u­al retreat into soli­tude.

Chase Andrews even­tu­al­ly approach­es Kya at Jumpin’s wharf, ini­ti­at­ing a con­ver­sa­tion that leads to an invi­ta­tion for a pic­nic. This moment is cru­cial for Kya, offer­ing her a glim­mer of hope for social inter­ac­tion and pos­si­bly more. Despite her hes­i­ta­tion and con­di­tioned fear of rejec­tion stem­ming from being labeled “marsh trash,” she accepts Chase’s invi­ta­tion, hint­ing at the deep-seat­ed human need for con­nec­tion and accep­tance.

The nar­ra­tive also touch­es on Kya’s prac­tice of recit­ing poet­ry, reflect­ing her inner life and con­nec­tion to nature. This hob­by offers her a tem­po­rary escape from her iso­la­tion, show­cas­ing the depth of her char­ac­ter and her abil­i­ty to find solace in the beau­ty of lan­guage and nature.

The chap­ter con­cludes with a poignant reminder of Kya’s aban­doned friend­ship with Tate, her first and per­haps most sig­nif­i­cant con­nec­tion. Tate’s return and obser­va­tion of Kya, unbe­knownst to her, intro­duce a lay­er of missed oppor­tu­ni­ties and unspo­ken con­nec­tions that per­sist despite the pas­sage of time.