The morning light creeps into the room, framing the edges of the curtains in a yellow sunlight. Mandy Straussberg slowly awakens. It's a Saturday she realizes, but that realization doesn't fill her with the normal feelings of happiness. Instead, she feels apathetic, which means she doesn't really care that it's Saturday. For one thing, her best friend Liz is away for the weekend. And, for another, her parents have come upon a dismal decision. As Mandy lies awake, she wonders if life ever will become what it used to be. She wonders why God has given up on her, or why he has stopped listening to her prayers. Mandy watches her mother leave. She wonders what they have to talk about. What is there to say? Her mother and father have separated. And her father has accepted a new job in Chicago and taken her brother, David, along with him - end of discussion. There's nothing to say, not to her mother or to anyone. Life is what it is.
