Yara’s Journal

Summary

• Yara recalls the summer at age nine when her father went on a work trip to Palestine for two weeks and did not take the family with him, a departure from the usual insistence from her mother to join him.
• The mother, taking advantage of the father's absence, decided to take Yara and her siblings to Coney Island with a man from the park who they had secretly met before.
• Yara expresses concern about what would happen if their father found out about the trip, but her mother dismisses her worries and ensures the boys understand not to tell their father.
• The man arrives to drive them to the beach, and Yara feels uneasy but notices her mother is unusually happy and lively, singing and engaging affectionately with the man during the trip.
• Upon arrival, Yara is uncomfortable with the openness of the beach environment, feeling exposed even though she is wearing more clothing than the women around them.
• Yara, reluctant to play with her brothers, is sent away by her mother, who is engrossed in conversation with the man on a beach towel.
• In a fit of anger, Yara destroys her brothers' sandcastle, which leads to her being scolded by her mother and told to help rebuild the sandcastle.
• As Yara helps her brothers and observes her mother's joy with the man, she feels a mix of anger and confusion about her mother's happiness with him compared to her demeanor with her own family.
• In a poignant moment of reflection triggered by her sadness and confusion, Yara begins to think that perhaps her mother's treatment by her father was deserved, showcasing a complex emotional response to her family dynamics.