One by One

The unnamed narrator returns and describes the house rules of their childhood: Dinner is at 6 pm; the narrator must clean their plate; the narrator must come home immediately after school; they must attend church each Sunday; they may watch half an hour of TV on weekends; they must say their prayers each night before bed. If any of the rules are broken, the narrator is punished.

When the narrator’s father is home, the punishments are normal, like no dessert or an early bedtime. When the narrator is alone with their mother, however, the punishments are sadistic. When the narrator returns one day from school chewing a piece of gum, their mother makes them stand outside in the snow for hours until their fingers and toes become numb. When they are finally allowed inside, the narrator’s hands are blistered from the cold, and their mother forces them to make their own dinner.

The narrator hopes their teacher will notice the blisters and send them to the nurse, but their teacher does not notice. When the narrator looks for their favorite T-shirt, they find it crumpled up with their chewed gum inside it—another punishment from their mother.