A Small, Good Thing

In the hospital waiting room, Ann meets the family of Franklin, a young man who is undergoing surgery after being stabbed at a party. Ann identifies so strongly with his family’s plight that later, she follows up with the hospital staff on Franklin’s condition. The tragic answer she receives foreshadows Scotty’s impending death: 

“There was a Negro boy in surgery last night,” Ann said. “Franklin was his name. His family was in the waiting room. I’d like to inquire about his condition.”

[…]

“He passed away,” said the nurse at the counter [… ] “Are you a friend of the family or what?”

“I met the family last night,” Ann said. “My own son is in the hospital. I guess he’s in shock. We don’t know for sure what’s wrong. I just wondered about Franklin, that’s all. Thank you.”

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In the opening scene of “A Small, Good Thing,” Ann Weiss orders a birthday cake for her son Scotty. This early focus on the birthday cake subtly suggests that the story’s central conflict will relate, in some way, to Scotty’s aging and mortality. In this way, the birthday cake foreshadows Scotty’s death:

Saturday afternoon she drove to the bakery in the shopping center. After looking through a loose-leaf binder with photographs of cakes taped onto the pages, she ordered chocolate, the child’s favorite […] The baker, who was an older man with a thick neck, listened without saying anything when she told him the child would be eight years old next Monday. 

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