“Powder”
The narrator and his father set off for a skiing exploration “before Christmas.” During his father’s previous visit, he had accompanied him to a nightclub “to see Thelonious Monk” which infuriated the narrator’s mother. The narrator’s father had to plead with his estranged wife to discharge the narrator so that he could spend time skiing with his father. The mother specified that the narrator’s father would lookout for the narrator and return him to his mother by Christmas eve.
On the morning that they are expected to return home, it snows. The narrator and his father resolve to ski before departing. The snow heaps on resulting in the suppression of the trail. They pull their sports car by way of chain. The narrator is astounded by the snow until he desires that he would be at home. A state trooper notifies the narrator and his father that they cannot use the road due to the unexpected snow. The narrator’s father avers that he can succeed to drive through the snow but the trooper does not let him.
The narrator and his father have their dinner in a booth. The father notifies the narrator that his mother would not pardon him for not keeping his word. The narrator’s father reassures him that he would do anything for them ‘to be together again.’ By the time they complete their dinner the wind has dwindled and the amount of snow has trimmed down. Besides, they observe as the trooper leaves by way of car. The narrator and his father drive to the barricade where the narrator’s father tells him to move the barricade so that they can drive away.
They drive over the snow-covered road . The narrator is concerned that the trooper would pursue them; however, he does not. The narrator’s father prohibits him from ever endeavoring to drive on snow by himself because he is deficient of the instinct to take a risk like that. The narrator’s father confirms to the narrator that he espouses strengths such as foresight.
As the drive progresses, the narrator recognizes that his father can entreat the troopers that may make an attempt to stop them so that he can get home. The narrator trusts his father to get them out of the hostile weather since he is a ‘great driver.” Eventually, the narrator determines that “ if you haven’t driven fresh powder, you haven’t driven.”
“The Night In Question”
Frances comes to Franky’s apartment to console him for he is undergoing love-related distress. However, Frank is disinterested in speaking about the woman that instigated the sadness. Instead, Frank is preoccupied with Dr. Violet’s sermon and he desires to recount the sermon to Frances.
Frances reminiscences that Franky almost lost his life due to an accident and a detox. She allocates Franky ten minutes to deliver the sermon to her. Frances describes an image of Frank’s body with definite concentration on his tattoos, the shirt he is wearing, the Adam’s apple and the left leg.
Franky preaches about Mike Boiling who works at the railroad. Mike Boiling is married to Janice and they have one son called Benny. Benny is obsessed with mechanics. In the course of the preaching Frances observes that Frank has transformed because she is not used to hear him preach. Frances dreads listening to the sermon to the end. In a flashback, Frances recalls about Frank Senior (their father’s) tendencies to bully Franky from the time he was a young boy. The torment included slapping. Frances and her mother watched Franky’s torment in quietness.
After the demise of their mother, Frances stood up for Franky. Franky defended himself from his father’s efforts to break him by flouting his father’s orders. Frances started mothering Frank, and became overprotective of him. Frances made stabs to stop his father from striking Frank. However, Frank had undertook activities that were injurious to Frances’ marriage and job.
Then Franky carries on with his sermon relating to “the night in question.” Mike was requested to stand in for another worker at ‘drawbridge station.’ Mike goes with Benny to the station because his wife is attending a PTA. In the course of controlling the bridge, Mike become conscious that Benny is not with him. After making unsuccessful efforts to find Bennie, Mike determines that he could be ‘in the engine room.’ The ‘engine room’ has potent machines that regulate the drawbridge. At this point of the sermon Frances asserts that she does not want to listen to the remaining part of the sermon. Nonetheless, Frank proceeds with his sermon. Now, Mike is unable to decide between going to ‘the engine room’ to get his son and ‘lowering the bridge.’ Failure to lower the bridge would result in the deaths of the people that are in the train. So he must choose between liberating his son and the ‘the people on that train.’
Frances implores Franky to stop the sermon because she can see that in the end Mike will ransom his son to spare the strangers’ lives. Frances cannot stand the dreadful finale of the story. She avows that she would never do anything like what Mike is set to do. Frances asks Franky if he would deliberately grind her, and Franky retorts: “It isn’t a choice I have to make.”
In the resolution, the narrator expounds Frances’ devotion to her brother. As a result of allegiance, she had confronted various people including their abusive father while growing up to shield her brother. Finally, Frances, envisages herself in a room at their house where she tells Frank, “ It’s okay, Franky. I’m here.”
