- Jacob and Esther Blau have an awkward family car ride to drop off their daughter Deborah at a mental institution in the country far outside of Chicago.
- The Blaus stop at a diner for coffee.
- When Deb goes off to use the restroom, it becomes obvious that her parents don't want their daughter to be alone: they're concerned about her for some as yet undisclosed reason…but we get the hint that it's a diagnosis of some kind.
- The Blaus follow Deborah into the diner to keep an eye on her.
- The father thinks about the diagnosis of his daughter and thinks that the doctors must be wrong: they're strangers who don't know his daughter.
- The Blaus stop to eat dinner at a nice restaurant that night and go to a movie. They reminisce about past family vacations and avoid the difficult reality of what they're doing.
- While the parents lie in bed in their motel room, they have a tense and strained conversation about Deborah—which they can do because they got Deborah her own separate room.
- Jacob wonders if they're doing the right thing. Esther is exasperated because the decision to send Deborah away was hard, and she doesn't want to backtrack now. They each pretend to be asleep, lost in their own sad thoughts.
- Ah, you can almost smell the dysfunction.
- In her own room, Deborah takes advantage of the solitude by doing one of her favorite things: retreating into a world she has created in her own mind called Yr. Yr has multiple levels and hierarchies, and Deb seems more at ease and at home there than in the real world. The real world is full of "Shadows," while Yr is where she feels most alive and free.
- In the car the next day, when the real world conversations invade while she's in Yr, Deborah describes the experience as a "collision of the two worlds" (1.21).
- The Blaus approach the mental institution, which Deb describes as a madhouse with bars that are fitting because she sees it like a prison.
- The father and mother react differently to dropping Deb off. Jacob relents that the madhouse isn't for his "little Debby" (1.23), which makes Deb have a "sudden ruthless look" on her face (1.23). "Little Debby" is sixteen, after all.
- Dr. Linden, the first doctor the Blaus meet at the hospital, describes how the Blaus and Deb look like shock victims.
- Jacob Blau is a man who isn't much for inner reflection. He doesn't tell his daughters he loves them, and they in turn don't feel like they can confide in him. Ouch.
- When Jacob tries to kiss Deborah before saying goodbye, she steps away like she doesn't want his touch. This makes him feel angry, and he is known for his temper. But there's no appropriate outlet now, so he just decides to bottle it up.