The heavy fragrance of summer flowers rises to Offred’s bedroom window, where she takes her accustomed seat and gazes out into the night. In the moonlight, she spots Nick. Her thoughts return to her family’s failed escape and Luke’s killing of the cat, whose prowling and yowls could have given away the family’s escape plans. Offred realizes that the past is slipping from her memory, and prays into the darkness, her loneliness driving her to thoughts of suicide.
