At the end of the story, Rye adopts two children—a toddler boy and girl—whose parents are dead and who are miraculously able to speak. Initially, when Rye sees these children, she wants to leave them to fend for themselves, but she realizes that she wouldn’t be able to live with that decision. Then, by accident, she learns that they can speak. This makes Rye wonder if perhaps the illness has run its course, and she vows to protect and teach these children. She brings them home with her, and the story implies that this has given Rye a reason to live.
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The Children Character Timeline in Speech Sounds
The timeline below shows where the character The Children appears in Speech Sounds. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Speech Sounds
...leans over Obsidian’s body, thinking that he has left her like everyone else, two small children come out of a house and walk to the dead woman—the girl shakes the woman’s...
(full context)
...wants to bury Obsidian, so she returns to his body and sees how frightened the children are. She realizes that she cannot let two toddlers die, so she must take them—she...
(full context)
...tells Rye to go away, while the boy tells the girl not to talk. The children’s speech is perfectly intelligible to Rye. Marveling at this, Rye wonders if the children’s mother...
(full context)
...also been a protector, but lately she had only protected herself—now she can keep these children alive. As the children begin to cry, she tells them that it’s alright and that...
(full context)
