The Sea in Winter

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

At night, Maisie lies awake because her knee is aching. She gets up, finds a plastic bag, and retrieves ice from an ice machine in the walkway. When she returns to the room, Jack has woken up. He asks her how she is, and they sit together in the dark. Jack detects the smell of popcorn from the other room and suggests that they could eat some without Connor and her mother knowing. Jack leaves the room and returns with a bag of popcorn. They share it, and Maisie sees that Jack understands her pain. She thinks to herself that Jack was always like a father to her.

As the family has breakfast in the motel, Maisie watches her family eating and feels nervous again. Jack puts some sausages on her plate, suggesting that she needs to eat. Maisie feels that Jack is oblivious to her “discomfort” because she does not want to eat the sausages. Angie says that she and Connor will go to the store for shoes but that Maisie can stay with Jack. Maisie understands that her mother wants her to rest before their hike.