Watch Me

Twenty-year-old Rosabelle (Rosa) and her 13-year-old sister Clara awaken to another morning without food and without their parents. Their father committed treason by revealing secrets to the enemy to keep himself alive in prison, and their mother died by suicide shortly after finding this out, knowing that the Reestablishment would certainly punish her for her husband’s actions.

Rosa thinks her mother must have assumed they wouldn’t punish his children, but Rosa and Clara go without food and heat because of it. Clara, who is still more innocent and hopeful than Rosa, encourages her to marry a man named Sebastian because the sanctions on them would be lifted, but Rosa can only think of how much she hates him. Clara is gaunt from eating so little, and Rosa covers her in a bear skin blanket that she made from a bear that invaded their home shortly after her mother’s death. While Ark Island, where they live, is said to be a beautiful place, Rosa cannot appreciate it; all she can think about is hunger. Clara hands Rosa two pieces of mail, which Rosa doesn’t want to look at. She leaves to get bread, taking her rifle with her.