oh! ouch! what a twist! I did not expect that!

Fantastic twist! I’m just not sure her hair would have been curled for the occasion…

Thanks! I did the curled hair for two reasons. First, I have straight brown hair, and I try to fight that with my curling iron whenever possible; I though maybe Cora would have been the same way. Second, I really wanted to portray her mom as overly attentive: curled hair, lipstick, favorite dress. The things she knew her daughter would have wanted.

A tour de force. Of structure and development. The first 2 paras set the scene, the 3rd is shorter and says more, the climax is devastating in its laconic, understated way.