Content Warning: The novel and this section of the guide include discussions of graphic violence and injury and the physical and psychological effects on the people involved.

Joy is a high school librarian heading to work on the last day before winter break. She reflects on the year that has passed since last Christmas. After she walked in on her husband, Thom, and sister, Stacey, having an affair, she went through a divorce and lost the two most important people to her. She brings cookies to contribute to the holiday party, but when she arrives at work, she tells the woman at the front desk that she won’t be attending. The library is quiet as she and her assistant Rayla organize things. They have worked together for five years, and Joy dreads Rayla’s master’s program completion, as she will leave their job. She reflects on how her work has changed since she started the job—now, she helps students navigate the internet rather than find books.

She wonders what she will do without work to distract her during these two weeks of vacation and thinks about how, in past years, she bought gifts for her ex-husband and her sister.