"There Is No One Left"
- The narrator seems to hate Mary Lennox, our main character.
- Apparently, she is ugly, constantly sick, spoiled, selfish, and generally a monster to be around.
- But it's not all Mary's fault: Her mother is a selfish woman who mostly ignores Mary, and her father is busy with Important Government Biznez all the time.
- Basically, Mary has the worst kind of upbringing you can have as a kid without actual violence: She gets everything she needs physically but nothing at all that she needs emotionally.
- One morning, when Mary is nine, she wakes up to see that her Ayah—her Indian nanny—is not there.
- Mary spots her mother talking in a low voice to a man outside.
- They are talking about something "very bad" (1.8) that should have sent them to the "hills two weeks ago" (1.9).
- Mrs. Lennox seems frightened and helpless.
- It turns out that the horrible disease cholera has broken out nearby, and lots of people are dying from it.
- Everyone in the neighborhood is panicking, and nobody has time to check in on Mary while they are dealing with this sickness.
- Mary sips at some wine left over on the dinner table and falls into a deep sleep.
- When she wakes up, the house is empty.
- Two men come walking in, commenting that it's sad that "that pretty, pretty woman" (1.23) (Mrs. Lennox) should have died. (So—they think her death would have been less sad if she had been less pretty? Jerks.)
- They are totally surprised to see Mary standing on her own in the middle of this abandoned house.
- Both Mary's father and mother have died of cholera without Mary even knowing it.