She was a former ballerina.
On the day of her father's funeral she was very sad. Her father had meant more to her than anyone in the world and his sudden death had affected her deeply. Normally a sensitive and elegant woman, she was on this day completely withdrawn, quite beside herself, lost in the depth of her mourning.

At the windy, rainy, funeral in Tulsa, she was struck by the fact that her father was everything she had found to be lacking in her husband. When she was a young dancer the two had seemed so much alike. They were both strong men, but where her husband was impatient and unforgiving, her father had been generous and kind. At first, their marriage had been much different, but now she felt as if she could no longer hold his interest. Only those machines interested him. He was an avid collector of flying machines. The only love he seemed to feel was for his small planes and the only excitement, towards his next acquisition.

Still, her husband's nature allowed him to be jealous of her love for her father, even though he was unworthy of her feelings. At the funeral, she saw that jealousy feed on itself and grow. As her grief mounted, his anger and jealousy grew until his bitterness overcame his self-control and he pulled her away from the coffin and into the car even before the ceremony's end. As they drove away through the sheets of rain, she could say nothing.

The next day, she was awakened by the sound of her husband pounding on her door. She opened the door and he announced that she was to accompany him to an aeronautics show in Oklahoma City. She begged him to let her stay home, but he insisted that she go, saying that her grief was a waste of his time. They flew to the site of the fair in a small prop plane. She stared out the window at the map below. On the fair ground, she followed her husband from display to display , weak with fatigue, her eyes wandering aimlessly, unfocused. He met a group of businessmen that he knew, and she hung at his side like a limp flower. As the group broke up, he scolded her for her behavior, insisting she entertain his friends. He was in a wonderful mood.

The roar of the engines in the pavilion made the world blur in front of her. She said a silent prayer for her father to rescue her, just like the prince always did in her favorite ballets. She asked her husband if she could go out for some air and he dragged her towards the outdoor exhibits. They became separated. She lost sight of his form in the immense crowd and wandered, lost, by herself. In the center of the lawn, she saw a helicopter ready to take off. the blades whirred and formed a wheel which spun round, draining her weakness from her as it revolved. She ran lightly about the periphery of the wheel, closing in in a spiral of movement. She was drawn to the center, as if her life could be found there.

She continued around the spiral and the center was at hand.

With no resistance she reached the center and rose up,
seeing the form of her empty body below.