Boy in the Summer Sun
By Mark Schorer, first published in Story Magazine
A man visits his girlfriend in the countryside and begins to realize that she loves someone else.
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Plot Summary
Will is visiting his girlfriend, Rachel, in the countryside at her mother’s house. The couple walk in the quiet forest and Rachel sees that he is upset. She asks him if it is because she invited her friend, Max, to see them, but he tells her that it’s because of his job in the city. He wonders why she thought it might be because of Max. Later, Will, Rachel, and Max are all sitting on a raft in the lake and Max is talking about poetry. He is a professor and speaks about death written by different poets, calling Rachel darling at one point. Will watches how Rachel looks at Max and sees that they scoot closer to each other so that their legs are touching. Will becomes very angry and keeps looking away so that he doesn’t have to watch them together. Eventually, his anger becomes unbearable and he stands up and jumps into the water. He feels his anger subside, but it is replaced by a great loneliness. He gets to the beach and is joined by Rachel who tells Will to be nice to Max. He joins them again on the raft. That night, the three of them, along with Rachel’s mother, all eat dinner. Rachel’s mother is fascinated by what Max has to say and Will feels the anger rising in him again. He quickly leaves the house and walks outside to the lake. He begins to cry and Rachel joins him by the lake. She asks why he is crying and he says that she knows why. She concedes that she loves Will, but just loves Max more and that it terrifies her. They both cry and Will feels like the loneliness will stay with him forever. He remarks that the end of love is like a little dying and that life is full of little deaths. The two walk back to the house.