Claire Keegan "Foster" (The New Yorker)

　　A very moving short story. 　　The girl lives temporarily with her uncle’s because her mother is going to have a baby. First she feels awkward and strange in the Kinsellers, but gradually she is impressed by their kind treatment of her. After a month when her mother had a boby, they take her to her home where her mother welcomes her with a new born baby. After a small talk, they are going to leave, when she suddenly misses them. She runs to them and she is smack against and lifted into her uncle’s arms. For a long stretch, he holds her tight. She feels the thumping of her heart, her breaths coming out…. 　　As I read the story, I identified myself with the girl. When she notices that she has worn their lost boy’s clothes, Mr. Kinsella takes her to the sea and talks about his wife’s good-heartedness, importance of silence, and hugs her. It was a touching scene. Mr. Kinsella was such a nice humorous person. The more you read, the more you will see that the Kinsellas treat her as if she were their child. 　　The story is excellent. The last scene consolidates everything written before that. The author seems to have written the story only because she wanted to end the story with the climax phrase, “‘Daddy,’ I keep calling him, keep warning him. ‘Daddy.’”