**Sum­ma­ry of “Cas­sidy” from *When the World Tips Over***

In the idyl­lic set­ting of a yel­low house on Dan­de­lion Road in Whis­per­ing Riv­er, Cas­sidy paints a por­trait of her life filled with vivid expe­ri­ences and com­plex emo­tions. She describes her sur­round­ings— a moun­tain bike, a mail­box adorned with a bird feed­er, a father in a cow­boy hat, and beloved ani­mals like two hors­es (Chet and Bil­lie) and var­i­ous pets. The nos­tal­gia for her child­hood is pal­pa­ble, as she quick­ly immers­es in her dai­ly life of school, sports, and friend­ships. But amidst these sun­ny mem­o­ries of bak­ing pies, danc­ing, and enjoy­ing the sim­ple plea­sures, she hints at a deep­er nar­ra­tive— one of for­get­ting and loss.

Cas­sidy reflects on past adven­tures with her moth­er, con­trast­ing warm rec­ol­lec­tions of care­free days spent togeth­er, par­tic­u­lar­ly one vivid mem­o­ry of joy at a swim­ming hole. Yet, as she accli­mates to her new life, the glow­ing mem­o­ry of her moth­er begins to fade. Despite enjoy­ing moments with her father, who teach­es her skills and shares wis­dom, Cas­sidy bat­tles the haunt­ing pres­ence of her mother’s aban­don­ment.

Amidst devel­op­ing friend­ships with Olan and Sum­mer, they share life’s tri­als and secrets, includ­ing Cas­sidy’s painful mem­o­ries of her moth­er leav­ing. This bond allows her to escape, if only tem­porar­i­ly, the feel­ings of betray­al and anger she expe­ri­ences. Cas­sidy’s jour­ney is marked by the per­sis­tent shad­ow of her moth­er’s absence, pro­vid­ing a tumul­tuous blend of emotion—rage, long­ing, joy—intertwined with her iden­ti­ty. She express­es her strug­gles through per­son­al sym­bols, such as a tat­too quot­ing, “We were togeth­er, I for­get the rest,” sig­ni­fy­ing her com­plex rela­tion­ship with her moth­er.

As Cas­sidy advances towards her senior prom, she stands at a cross­roads, nav­i­gat­ing her emerg­ing iden­ti­ty while still deeply affect­ed by her moth­er’s lega­cy. Ulti­mate­ly, she embraces her past through writ­ing, allow­ing her to con­front the inter­twined threads of love and pain, as her moth­er’s mem­o­ry remains an inescapable influ­ence in her life.